Which textbooks are best for Trainee Patent Attorneys?

Question

Hi, I've just scorerd myself a job as a trainee patent attorney, and will start studying for exams soon. Does anyone know any particularly good textbooks that are helpful for the exams or that may help with the training in general?

Answer 1

There are two levels of exams to worry about in the patent attorney profession, the foundation level exams and the finals levels exams (the finals exams include four UK exams and four European exams). You can get an exemption from the foundation level exams by attending and passing a certificate in intellectual property law which is run by a few universities. Some firms send you on this, but others expect you to sit the foundation level exams instead. If you do the certificate course, then they will send you a list of text books to read, otherwise you are "on your own"!

Some text books I would recommend are as follows:
"Law made simple" - by Barker and Padfield, is a good introduction to basic UK law, which will be required for the foundation "Law" paper.
"Intellectual Property" - by Bainbridge, is an excellent introduction to the fundamentals of IP law, including patents, copyright, designs and trademarks.
For more detailed patent law, you need to obtain a copy of the "CIPA Guide to the Patents Act", and for European patent law, you should obtain a copy of the "Guidelines for Examination" issued by the European Patent Office and a copy of "The Annoted European Patent Convention" by Visser.
If you buy all of the above yourself, you will end up impoverished, so I suggest that you get your company to buy them for you.

There are a series of lectures which are run in London which you should also consider going to (though you may be up in Glasgow for all I know!), which can be found on the CIPA website under the "Informals" pages.

There is also a new website dedicated to patent trainees, at www.professionaltrainee.co.uk, which could be worth a look.

Its a great profession to be in, but I warn you - the finals exams are hard! Good luck!

Answer 2

Assuming that you're UK-based, The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) publishes several text books and manuals:
http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/info-textbooks

CIPA also run a 5-day skills course:
http://www.cipa.org.uk/download_files/core_skills_course.pdf

This report may help you understand the scope of the exams better:
http://www.itma.org.uk/pdf_downloads/students/cipa-report.doc

More exam documents here:
http://www.itma.org.uk/pdf_downloads/students