A leading firm of patent and trade mark attorneys is delighted to announce that ten of its trainees have passed their IP Law exams, with one of them scoring the highest marks in the country.
Celebrations are taking place at Forresters after the successes, which were achieved despite the restrictions surrounding Covid-19. At the Birmingham office are trainee patent attorneys Jack Dean, Ian Duncan, Dr Ben Shepherd and Olivia Wang.
The firm is especially proud to announce that Jack Dean passed his examinations in Design and Copyright Law and Trade Mark Law, with flying colours. He said:
“I’m really pleased to be a part-qualified UK patent attorney, and thrilled to have been awarded the Mike Higgins Prize for achieving the highest mark in the country in Design and Copyright Law, alongside the Keith Farwell Prize for achieving the highest mark in the country in Trade Mark Law. This achievement is a testament to the quality of training offered by Forresters.”
Ian Duncan passed his International Patent Law and Trade Mark Law exams.
“I’m really pleased to have passed these exams and I now have eight left, this includes four UK finals which I hope to take in October this year, and then in March next year I will sit the four European finals. One of the main barriers for us all this year was the exams, as they had to be sat online due to lockdown rules. However, working from home meant I was able to have a regimented study routine, and so my grades were high.”
Dr Ben Shepherd and Olivia Wang have successfully passed their English Law and Design and Copyright Law examinations as well as their papers in UK Patent Law.
Ben said:
“We have all had to get used to working from home, where you can’t just pop to someone’s office and have to send an email or message instead. However, every Wednesday we have had online trainee and supervisor meetings where we go through various scenarios, questions, and exercises, which has been really useful. Also, it has allowed us to all keep in touch and has made being away from the office easier.”
Olivia said:
“Lockdown did have an impact as we had to do an online exam, which is something we haven’t done before. It was invigilated via Zoom and I think we all worried about what would happen if the internet went down. It has been stressful and so I’m glad to have passed these exams, which have helped us memorise sections of the law that are useful for work.”
Other exam passes include Dr Rosalie Shepherd and Kate Selwyn in London, who have passed all their final exams and are now fully qualified UK patent attorneys. Also in the London office Nikita Meek and Robert Smith passed their examinations in International Patent Law and Trade Mark Law. Nikita also passed his Design and Copyright Law examination.
Beth Campbell in the Munich office has successfully passed her Advanced IP Law and Practice, Drafting of Specifications and Infringement and Validity exams. While Hunter Annan in the Southampton office has passed his exams in English Law and Design and Copyright Law.
Matt Shaw, the newly-appointed managing partner at Forresters, said he was very proud of their achievements.
“Our trainees are a credit to the firm and we are delighted to hear that they have all successfully passed their exams,”
he said.
“These achievements reflect both our professionals’ calibre and the hard work that they have put into their exam preparation. We look forward to watching this new generation of attorneys as they continue to develop, and contribute to the continued success of Forresters.”