Day in the Life of an Intellectual Property Lawyer: 20 Tips for an Intellectual Property Lawyer
Day in the Life of an Intellectual Property Lawyer: 20 Tips for an Intellectual Property Lawyer
As explained at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, Intellectual Property law (IP law)( protects creations made by businesses or individuals. It is a specialist area of property law that governs the ownership of creative property. Intellectual property lawyers work closely with businesses, guiding them through the process of acquiring, protecting, and using intellectual property such as patents and copyrights. This article will look to highlight 20 tips on what a day in the life of an intellectual property lawyer entails if you are considering it as a career path.
No two days are alike
As any intellectual property lawyer will tell you, there is no typical day in the office. As per RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, no two days are alike which means, as an IP lawyer, you can never predict exactly how you are going to end up spending your day.
Emails
One of the first things to do once you get into the office, after getting settled in and taking your coffee, is to check your emails and see if you have had any correspondence overnight. Sometimes you can have your day planned only for everything to change based on one email, which is why you need to start the day by checking your email.
Checking deadlines
As an intellectual property lawyer, you will know from the get-go that keeping deadlines is crucial as one missed deadline and your case could collapse as articulated at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. After finishing up with your emails, the next step should be to check out your case management system which will show you upcoming case deadlines, allowing you to prioritize your jobs for the day.
Reviewing drafts
If you are a senior member of the team, then you will also need to spend some time in the morning reviewing drafts that your team has prepared. This is important since as a senior intellectual property lawyer, you may be able to catch some mistakes that junior members may have missed.
Phone calls
Another important part of your morning as an intellectual property lawyer is making phone calls to various parties. You might need to make a call to opposing counsel or other parties involved in the process. More importantly, however, you will likely need to talk to a client or two on the phone.
Responding to examination reports
Depending on where you stand in the hierarchy, you might need to respond to any examination report that may have come in according to RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. These reports contain things like clarity objections. Often, an examiner asserts that claims are not inventive, but when you look carefully at the documents, there are always strong arguments to overcome their assertion.
Meeting with experts
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the day-to-day life of an intellectual property lawyer is meeting with scientists and discussing their work. As an IP lawyer, you will get the chance to work with lots of brilliant minds on innovative inventions in your day at work.
Meetings
As is with most jobs in the corporate world, meetings will be a major part of your day as an intellectual property lawyer. As captured at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, these meetings not only rope in attorneys, but technical members such as those from the physics, engineering, or IT teams, among others.
Drafting patent applications
Given that you are an intellectual property lawyer, then you can expect that drafting patent applications will be a major part of your day. This is where you combine your passion for intellectual property law and your interest in science.
Responding to official correspondence
It is also worth noting that there is always a steady stream of incoming official correspondence relating to any IP applications your team is responsible for. For instance, you may have to consider an official objection on a particular mark when dealing with trademarks as well as how to report that back to the client.
Always on the move
As covered at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, your role as an intellectual property lawyer and the nature of your work means that it is rare that you will spend more than one hour on any one task, unless you are midway through hearing preparation or dealing with a complicated, contentious, matter. Therefore, you will likely find yourself weighing up on what to do next throughout the day.
Webinars
Most law firms take advantage of the lunch break to hold informative lunchtime webinars. These information sessions are designed to focus on a different topic aspect of IP law and help keep members up to date with what is new.
Disconnecting from the job
If there is no webinar or any sort of training session, then most intellectual property lawyers tend to want to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the office and have their lunch out of the office as discussed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. This helps you recharge your batteries for the second half of the day.
Working with both clients and colleagues
As an intellectual property lawyer, you will be splitting your time between working on client cases and supporting your colleagues, doing things like preparing training. Working with clients is a big part of your game, but working with colleagues will be equally important.
Bringing in new clients
If you work in a law firm, then part of your responsibilities as an intellectual property lawyer will be to bring in new business. You will, therefore, need to reach out to new clients, prepare pitches then pitch to clients, meet with new clients, etc.
Staffing
In addition to bringing in new business, staffing is another auxiliary duty you may have to perform occasionally in the job as described at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Depending on your position in the firm, you could be responsible for interviewing the new hires or making the final call.
Research
Research is a major part of your day as well as an intellectual property lawyer. This includes research for both cases you are handling as well as reading up on the latest developments in IP law as well as checking out some of the recent big cases.
Reporting letters
Most IP lawyers also tend to use the afternoon for reporting letters. As outlined at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, a reporting letter is reporting to the client where their trademark is in the process.
Review timesheet
As the day comes to an end, it is time to review your billable hours for the day and make sure all of the hours of your day are accounted for. This is necessary for you to remain on track with your billable requirements for the year.
Taking notes
As any intellectual property lawyer will tell you, you will rarely be able to finish everything that you had planned when the day began. Therefore, as you wind up for the day, you might want to jot down some notes to remind yourself what to do when you come in next.
These are some of the things to expect in your day as an intellectual property lawyer, with the top-rated RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com being your best bet when looking for more on this and other related topics.
