J A Kemp Careers

Earlier this year, J A Kemp partnered with the Linacre Institute, a social mobility charity that helps students from some of the most disadvantaged postcodes in northern England win places at leading universities. This August, one of our trainee patent attorneys, Kayden X., joined the The Linacre Institute's ‘Stepping Stones’ summer school as an academic tutor. Stepping Stones forms the heart of the Linacre Institute’s ‘Reach Higher’ programme and was hosted this year by St John’s College, the University of Cambridge. Over the three and a half days of teaching, Kayden led the Biological Sciences cohort in venturing beyond the confines of the school curriculum. As a class, they explored key events in early molecular and cellular evolution; how cells live, react and die; the history and future of cancer therapy; the origins of pandemics; and the effects of circadian rhythms on human health and disease. Besides tackling these materials, the students also put themselves under the microscope by taking part in mock university interviews, and experienced what it was like researching for, and writing, university-level exam essays. On the penultimate day of Stepping Stones, the class made the most of the good weather by enjoying some ice cream outside on the idyllic grounds of St John’s College whilst discussing the finer details of lactose digestion in humans and bacteria. The students also had a chance to ask questions about different career paths that they can pursue with a Biological Sciences degree, including what it would be like to work outside of the lab as a patent attorney. The photo below shows the Biological Sciences class of 2024 at the Stepping Stones graduation ceremony, which celebrated the students’ achievements over the course of the summer school. Thank you to all of the students for their enthusiasm and hard work!

I'm amazed to find this September that I will have been at J A Kemp for 30 years. In many ways it seems just yesterday that I joined at the tender age of 21! When exploring career options in my final year at university, J A Kemp was the only patent attorney firm able to offer me an interview, and I remain grateful to the partners at that time for bringing me into the profession (in particular Geoff Woods, who provided the bulk of my training). Over the 30 years I have been in the firm, I've been privileged to work on some really engaging cases, starting early when Geoff took me "on tour" around Europe a year or so after joining the firm, to help him manage litigation focussed on doxorubicin ready to use solutions. It is a great blessing to have a job that is engaging, challenging and enjoyable, and allows me to work with hugely talented colleagues. Looking forward to many more years meeting future challenges in the IP space!

Timing and Good faith intent filing requirements. The TikTok creator, Jools Lebron, who is said to have popularised the expression “Very demure” does not find it “very cutesy” that a third party has filed to register the trade mark VERY DEMURE before the USPTO. J A Kemp's Head of Trade Marks and Designs Group James Fish comments: In the world of trade marks, the timing of an application is important but so too is the good faith intent of an Applicant. We are regularly contacted by prospective clients who find that, tick tock, time has slipped by and a third party has filed their known trade mark first. What to do in these circumstances? Bring in the professionals. We will examine the background facts, investigate the third party and scrutinise their good faith intent when filing the application. If the Applicant’s motives are bad we have an array of instruments to reset the clock and recover your valuable intellectual property.

We are delighted to announce that Mark Cooper, Lina Cox, Daniel Hilton, Sam Parry, Carsten Reinhard and Alexandra Yates have recently passed the EQE (European qualifying examination) and are now registered as European Patent Attorneys. We wish them congratulations on their exam success.  

Sarah Gee, a Trainee Patent Attorney in the Biotechnology and Life Sciences team, was invited to deliver a careers talk organised by the Postdoc Society at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University. We trust that all attendees found the session beneficial. Well done Sarah!

We are committed to improving sustainability and are very proud to share that we have earned a Bronze Medal from our first audit by EcoVadis.

We were delighted to host our July Open Day last week, which aimed to give students a unique insight into the patent profession. We would like to thank all those who attended and hope you found it as engaging and enjoyable as we did. Applications for our September Open Day are open until 28th July so there is still time to apply. https://lnkd.in/eN8zxGWe

June has been an extremely busy month! But as we come to the end of the first half of 2024, I wanted to reflect on the exciting project I felt honoured to be part of towards the beginning of June - the "This is What a Lawyer Looks Like" exhibition organised by Scott Smith and Cambridgeshire Law Society with great photography from Jemima Willcox. Diversity and inclusivity can sometimes feel like an uncomfortable topic in a professional setting. Even when it is considered, it sometimes becomes reduced to a numerical analysis of people's "diverse" attributes. I think that what sometimes gets forgotten about through displaying people in bar charts is the individuality of every person. What was so refreshing about this event was that it celebrated individuals as they are, and to hear a bit about everyone's unique background and motivation for working in law. It is exactly this sort of event which can help break down the stereotypes of what people in the legal profession should look like and how they should behave, and to encourage those who are interested in the profession that there is no criteria other than the desire to serve their clients. Also - one more thing ticked off the bucket list: standing next to my own portrait!

Applications have now opened for our September 2024 open day, taking place on Thursday 19 September. The deadline for applications is Sunday 28 July 2024. Our open days are a great opportunity to find out more about a career in patents. To apply, please visit our website.

🌈 In recognition of Pride Month 2024, we were pleased to host drinks for J A Kemp colleagues in our London office on Tuesday, thanks to all those who came! Wishing our followers a happy Pride 2024 🌈