Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
0.000
Josh McLennon - Patent Attorney
Colour photo of Josh McLennon
Job Title
European Patent Attorney
Detailed Information

I work as a patent attorney at Håmsø Patentbyrå AS in Oslo, Norway.

It’s hard for me to say exactly where my journey into patents began, because, like most other patent attorneys, I only heard about the job when I was already 99% of the way there.

When deciding which universities to apply to, I came across a brochure with the words “Aerospace Engineering” in bold at the top of one of the pages, and I liked the sound of it immediately. I didn’t actually know what “Aerospace” or “Engineering” meant, but together they appeared to me impressive and like the kind of subject someone who knew what they were doing would choose. So, by the time I saw that the University of Leeds offered an Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering course with a year abroad in the middle, I had already convinced myself that this was the course I had always, in fact, been looking for.

As I was coming to the end of my degree, I had a growing feeling that working as an engineer wasn’t for me. Like the parable involving blind men arguing about the incompatible aspects of an elephant, I couldn’t quite understand how the equations and algorithms I had learnt fitted together with the bit of pipe I had sawed in the workshop late one Sunday. I didn’t understand how the aerospace industry worked, nor how to build a plane. Besides, the maths wasn’t quite as neat as I had been hoping: there were so many assumptions that my faith in its explanatory power had started to wane, too. I put my short-held dream of becoming an engineer to bed, and started exploring my options, ready for a new chapter.

I headed to the office at university which helped engineering students apply for jobs, and as I saw the shutters down on the main desk it dawned on me that it was well past eight in the evening and quite obviously closed. On my way out I picked up a booklet with “Chartered UK Patent Attorney” on the front cover, and, after reading the back cover, decided there and then that this was what I would do. I applied for a few jobs, accepted one in London, and was on my merry way.

Very soon after joining the profession, I looked around and saw there weren’t many people who looked like me. I joined IP Inclusive, and saw a lot more. It’s thanks to this organisation and very clever people in high places that I not only felt welcome in this career, but also that I belonged here. Their work, which is the work of volunteers, is absolutely incredible, and the IP profession is now much more representative of society at large. This is a good thing, obviously.

I’m often asked “Why Norway?” and “Are you Norwegian?”, usually in quick succession. I can only say “Why not?” and “Not yet”, because I think it’s the best country in the world to have a family in, and I see myself staying here well beyond the seven years required to become a Norwegian citizen. Like most of my career choices, it just felt right, and being a European patent attorney made it all possible.

I’m so pleased to have joined this profession, and can only hope to pass on a fraction of the kindness and patience shown to me as I trained in London and adjusted to life here across the North Sea. If anyone is wondering what life as a patent attorney is like, or has any questions regarding job applications or life in Norway, please feel absolutely free to reach out on LinkedIn or via email and I will assist in any way I can. If you’re curious about it, give it a go, and you never know where it might lead.

European Patent Attorney / Håmsø Patentbyrå AS

 

Last Updated: November 14, 2024