Develop your career at Wilson Gunn

We are looking for a qualified trade mark attorney to join our established trade mark team.

Wilson Gunn has a thriving trade mark practice. Ranked in Tier 2 in The Legal 500, we enjoy a high proportion of direct client work and represent an enviable selection of household names across a range of sectors, including sports, retail, fashion and food and drink.

You will be responsible for an exciting portfolio of work, providing commercially focused advice and excellent client care. You will be expected to advise clients on a full range of trade mark issues, including clearance searching, trade mark filings, assignments, licensing, portfolio management, oppositions, infringement and other contentious matters. Although not essential, experience with design matters would be beneficial. You will also be expected to help with business development and foster the continued growth of our practice.

We offer our attorneys a high degree of autonomy, yet the size of the firm and the atmosphere means that there is ready access to partners, and individuals have an ability to influence the business as we continue to grow. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone looking to handle a varied and interesting caseload and work directly with clients, and who is looking for great career progression.

We are happy to consider newly qualified attorneys, as well as those with more experience, for this exciting role.

We work flexibly. The role would be associated with either our Manchester or Birmingham office, but it would be open to work remotely as well as from either office, or our office in Liverpool. We offer a competitive salary package including pension contributions, bonus scheme and holiday buy/sell. Additional holidays are accrued with service.

We are looking for a new graduate trainee to join our established trade mark team in Manchester or Birmingham and work towards qualification as a Registered Trade Mark Attorney.

We are interested in candidates with a 2:1 degree or above in law, science, engineering or humanities.

The candidate we are looking for will also:

• Have excellent communication skills, particularly in writing
• Be highly organised and have very good attention to detail
• Have strong analytical skills and the confidence to defend the reasoning behind their opinion
• Be motivated and ready to put in the effort required to obtain the challenging professional qualifications – which usually takes at least 2-3 years
• Be based in or around Manchester or Birmingham

In return, we are offering:

• A fascinating and rewarding career
• A competitive salary (plus bonus and pension)
• 25 days holiday plus statutory holidays. Additional holidays are accrued with service
• Flexible working
• Full training, involving day to day mentoring and structured in-house training (delivered both in person and via video conferencing) supplemented by external courses and tutorials
• Examination support and study leave

We are seeking graduate or post-graduate trainees for our Manchester or Birmingham office to work towards the qualifications of Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney.

In addition to patents, you will also have the opportunity to become involved in other aspects of intellectual property, such as trade marks, designs and copyright.

Patent attorneys require a scientific/engineering background to be able to understand and protect ideas and inventions across a wide range of industries, and so candidates for this role must have a scientific academic background.

We are interested in candidates with at least a 2:1 honours degree in Chemistry, Physics, Engineering or a related discipline, who are based in or keen to relocate permanently to Manchester or Birmingham.

The candidate we are looking for will also:

• Have excellent communication skills, particularly in writing
• Be highly organised and have very good attention to detail
• Have strong analytical skills and the confidence to defend the reasoning behind their opinion
• Be motivated and ready to put in the effort required to obtain the challenging professional qualifications – which usually takes around 5 years
• Be based in or around Manchester or Birmingham

In return, we are offering:

• A fascinating and rewarding career
• A competitive salary (plus bonus and pension)
• 25 days holiday plus statutory holidays. Additional holidays are accrued with service
• Flexible working
• Full training, involving day to day mentoring and structured in-house training (delivered both in person and via video conferencing) supplemented by external courses and tutorials
• Examination support and study leave