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Where brands, business and intellectual property meet

Marks & Clerk is recognised as one of the best intellectual property firms in the world, advising a broad range of clients on how to protect, exploit and enforce their IP rights.

We are nominated for awards, in the top tier of legal rankings and recognised by our clients as providing the best quality advice. Our trainees are part of this and also win prizes, distinctions and accolades for their achievements in the qualifying exams.

M&C provides a comprehensive range of intellectual property services through our team of trade mark attorneys, patent attorneys and lawyers based in offices in Europe, East Asia and North America. We act for a diverse range of clients from multi-national corporations to early stage growth businesses.

Our trade mark team has clients in brand-heavy sectors like Food & Drink; Fashion & Retail; Health & Beauty; Entertainment and Financial Services, as well as working with our colleagues to support clients in tech-driven sectors like Electronics & Software; Medtech & Life Sciences; Energy & Environment; Transport and Chemistry.

As part of our team you will work with experienced attorneys who are amongst the best in the business and will enjoy a variety of work across this exciting range of clients. 

Our people enjoy excellent remuneration, benchmarked against the IP industry, along with a range of benefits, career development and a vibrant social scene.

How to apply

A career as a trade mark attorney

At the start of their career, trainees support the Partners and qualified trade mark attorneys in providing exceptional client service for an existing portfolio of clients. Working with one of the largest firms in the profession has the advantage that trainees can experience a wide range of challenging and interesting tasks and work with a range of clients from household names to the latest start-up ventures.

In addition, trainees are encouraged to assist with client development to spot opportunities to advance client relationships and to develop and maintain our status as trusted advisors. There is also the opportunity to get involved with business development from an early stage in your career, by joining one of our focus sector groups – Creative Industries, Food & Drink, Fashion & Retail, Beauty & Cosmetics, Financial Services and Transport.

As a graduate trainee, you will be given full support to achieve qualification as a Registered and Chartered UK Trade Mark Attorney. As well as support and assistance on the relevant courses, we also run our own comprehensive in-house “Training Academy” which combines tutorials and lectures, as well as mentoring and supervision from Partners and other qualified trade mark attorneys. Extensive support is also available from our highly capable support team. The “Training Academy” also provides a great way to get to know the other trainees across the UK business in both trade marks and patents. In addition, you will gain a range of commercial skills, such as business development and client care, as part of our ongoing personal development programme.

Read on to hear about how our well-established Training Academy can help you achieve a rewarding career in intellectual property.

More about our Training Academy

What will I be doing?

Trainees are involved in client facing work from the start and support Partners and qualified trade mark attorneys in the following areas, gradually taking on more responsibility as their skills develop:

  • Advising on the availability, protection, use, exploitation, enforcement and assignment of trade marks
  • Filing and prosecuting applications, oppositions, invalidity and revocation proceedings and appeals before the UKIPO and EUIPO; representing clients at ex parte and oral hearings
  • Dealing with related copyright, common law, business/domain name and design matters
  • Liaising with solicitors and advocates/barristers, including in the event of high court appeals, litigations and related opinions
  • Taking an active approach to business development opportunities with the support of a professional marketing department

This is an exciting role from the start, with trainees getting involved in all aspect of trade marks.

How do I qualify as a trade mark attorney?

To qualify as a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney you will need to complete two university courses. If you have a law degree, this may exempt you from some of the exams.

Our trainees start their qualifications after they have been with the firm for 12 months. This allows trainees to gain experience in trade marks that helps them when sitting the university courses.

Postgraduate Certificate

The postgraduate certificate can be taken at one of three institutions in the UK. All offer slightly different styles of course, and have an element of distance learning, owing to this being a professional qualification. All courses are approved by IPREG – the governing body for intellectual property. Please click on the links for further information on the university courses:

Our trainees typically attend either the Queen Mary or Bournemouth course and the choice is discussed with our trainees to agree the most suitable course for their needs. The courses vary in length and start dates, but typically take 5-7 months.

Marks & Clerk provides the time off to attend the course, covers the course fees and travel costs and the costs of any associated course materials. We also offer study leave to ensure trainees are able to complete their exams and/or course work.

Completing the postgraduate certificate, is the first stage of qualification. Following this, trainees will need to take the Professional Certificate.

Professional Certificate

The professional certificate in trade mark practice is run by Nottingham Law School. Our trainees typically attend this course at the start of their third year with Marks & Clerk.

The course runs from October to July and requires trainees to attend university every few weeks. The course is taught through a mixture of in-person lectures and online materials. 

Again, Marks & Clerk provides the time off to attend the course, covers the course fees and travel costs and the costs of any associated course materials. We also offer study leave to ensure trainees are able to complete their exams and/or course work.

On completion of this course, trainees apply to enter onto the Register of Trade Mark Attorneys and apply for membership of CITMA to become Chartered, and therefore qualify as a Trade Mark Attorney.

If you would like any further information on qualifying as a Trade Mark Attorney, please visit The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA) website.

Here are some things that we look for:

Exceptional analytical skills

Commercial awareness

Well-developed communication skills

A motivated and proactive attitude

Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills

Collegiality and team working ability

Photo: Sam Collins

Partner profile

Sam Collins

Sam joined M&C in 2014 in our Oxford office as a newly qualified trade mark attorney. Sam was promoted to become a Partner at M&C in August 2021.

"I always thought I would go down the more traditional law route and become a solicitor, but what drew me to the trade mark profession was that for such a highly specialised area of law there is still a really broad range of tasks and we actually apply trade mark law to the work we are doing every day.
"What I like most about working in trade marks is the problem solving and strategy side of things. I like building on the trade mark law foundation I got from my training and using that with some outside of the box thinking to support clients to meet their commercial objectives.
"To be a trade mark attorney you have to be adaptive, keen to learn and get invested in the really wide range of sectors and technologies of our clients. Twelve years in and I’m still learning new things every day."

Benefits

The types of benefits we offer include:

Competitive salary

26 days' holiday, plus bank holidays

Competitive contributory pension scheme

Private medical insurance*

Flexible & hybrid working opportunities

GP service

Life assurance

Permanent health insurance*

Cycle to work scheme

Season ticket loans

Gymflex scheme

Employee assistance programme

* after 12 months

Find out more & apply

 

Community

Diversity & Inclusion

Having a diverse workforce is important to us. We were one of the first signatories of IP Inclusive, which promotes and improves diversity, equality and inclusion within the IP industry. We actively work with universities and national diversity initiatives to encourage graduates from a wider range of social backgrounds and ethnicities to apply for roles in IP. We are also members of WISE, promoting STEM roles to women.

Charity

Through our charity matching scheme, we raise thousands of pounds for charity each year. Colleagues have done everything from triathlons, walks and baking, to cycling from Lands' End to John O'Groats. In 2018, we raised £15,000 for Save the Children and in 2021 we supported Macmillan via their Games Night initiative. In 2022 we have raised over £14,000 for the DEC Ukraine appeal.

Environment

We are a paperless environment and we have reduced our use of plastic by installing water taps and removing plastic cups. We minimise our carbon footprint through the use of video conferencing to reduce the need to travel for meetings. Where travel is required, public transport is preferred, and we offer a cycle to work scheme. We are proud to work with a range of clients on renewable energy technologies.

Wellbeing

Our Employee Assistance Programme provides access to confidential support. We have an intranet wellbeing hub and Mental First Aiders in each office and for the Academy. We actively participate in initiatives such as World Mental Health Day and work with mental health charity Mind to enhance our approach to wellbeing support. In 2021 we launched our 'Let's Get Social' initiative, inviting employees across the UK to join together virtually for activities such as book clubs, yoga, cooking and art lessons.