Not to be confused with the paralegals who work alongside IP lawyers, an “IP paralegal” provides a specific type of support for patent and trade mark attorneys, some of it administrative and some of it requiring knowledge of specialist laws and procedures.
Last Updated: November 1, 2024
It may be the work of the patent and trade mark attorneys that clients are willing to pay fees for, but the ones who make the office run smoothly and who make it possible for those people to earn the money are the IP paralegals, sometimes known as IP “administrators” or “formalities clerks”.
These individuals provide administrative and secretarial support to ensure the attorneys in their team are on top of their deadlines. Without the paralegal, clients would not receive such a high level of customer service, and attorneys wouldn’t have the accurate information they need to work efficiently and safely.
An IP paralegal’s work depends on who they’re working for – but their goal is always to help the “fee earners” spend as much time as possible on the technical work they’re qualified for. Typically, a paralegal will manage emails, post and phone calls, routine tasks and deadline reminders; type up documents; complete official forms and procedures; manage diaries and/or arrange meetings. Some of these tasks may be handled by secretaries or PAs, depending on the organisation, but it’s the IP paralegal who’s qualified to handle the official procedures and deadlines that apply to patent and trade mark rights.
Obviously, this is similar to work in other offices, but the atmosphere of an IP firm or department can feel very fast-paced and bring rewarding challenges for people who are good at time management.
The world of IP depends heavily on office work, so IP paralegals and other office support staff might be in any organisation that deals in IP: for example a small or large law firm or IP practice, a government department, or the legal division of a multi-national company.
Patent and trade mark attorneys look to their paralegal staff to keep them organised, so you need to be a superstar time manager, a deadline duellist, a meticulous planner, eager to learn and to please.
To get a job, formal qualifications beyond GCSEs may not be needed (although they help), but office experience is useful, particularly if it’s been in a legal environment. Many IP sector firms are happy to offer work experience.
Training is mostly done on the job, but after 6 months to a year, you can undertake a more formal training course to qualify as a patent and/or trade mark paralegal. The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) runs a Patent Paralegal Course, as does the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA). Neither of these is essential for you to continue working as an IP paralegal, but your employer is likely to encourage you to take them as they lead to professional qualifications and allow you to apply for membership of the relevant institute. They provide valuable insights into the paralegal role as well as its wider context, and access to further training and development opportunities – that’s great for your longer-term career prospects, which could involve managing other team members and/or office systems.
The work is as varied and so are the clients, and many have important or interesting IP that they want to protect or make money from. It’s good to play a part in helping them do that.
It’s not always easy to keep your patent and trade mark colleagues organised, but that’s what the job involves. Also there are a lot of deadlines to meet, and the consequences can be serious if you miss them, so you need to be very organised and accurate in your work. Not everyone likes that level of stress.
- Look out for vacancies on job websites in the local press, or try approaching IP or law firms to ask about vacancies and/or work experience.
- Keep an eye on IP firms’ website careers pages and LinkedIn feeds.
- The CIPA website jobs board and CITMA website jobs board are also good places to look for IP paralegal jobs.
- Specialist IP sector recruiters also advertise vacancies for IP paralegals, although not typically the entry-level roles.