One of the most exciting and challenging things being a patent attorney is the mix of on the one hand having to be quite introvert (reading, writing, reviewing text, comparing inventions, writing some more) and on the other hand having to be rather extrovert handling relations with customers, customers-to-be, giving lectures and talks.
The last two weeks of theory, we had lectures and workshops on both of these sides of our profession.
We had a group assignment studying the European Patent Convention – the law that from now on will rule most of our working life. We also tried to write one of the papers of the European Qualifying Examination. To become an authorized European patent attorney, you have to pass four exams, paper A being one of them. The task of paper A is to write claims and part of the application. During a whole day we wrote and discussed the paper and – according to our excellent supervisor Tommy Somlo – we did OK. It´s good though that we still have a few years of introvert practicing before we will sit the exam …
We also had two days of sales training, preparing us for the more extrovert part of our profession. During these days we discussed different scenarios and were given some hands-on tips on how to handle different situations.
Now we´re back at our home offices trying to combine the art of being introvert and extrovert (almost) at the same time. It´s an interesting challenge!
Maria Weineisen, Associate at Awapatent