By Dennis Crouch
The attorneys at Plumsea Law Group in Bethesda are organizing an interesting trial – Starting October 15, the group will be bringing-on five new paid interns as part of a four-month-long intensive patent prosecution training program. This is designed as a real training program, although it is also a recruiting tool and one or two of the interns may be hired-on following the internship. [Job Posting on Patently-O Jobs]. The technology focus is on mechanical-engineering and physics.
I caught up with Patty Hong who is one of the attorneys running the program. Patty provided me with some further details on the program:
1. Who?
New law school graduates or even older graduates who do not have patent prosecution experience and face that obstacle when interviewing with law firms. We are also open minded about newly graduated engineers who may be thinking about the PTO or law school.
2. What?
The program will be an intensive, closely supervised training being run by 3-4 attorneys in the firm. Patty notes "This is school – we have been developing a training set for teaching newbies how to draft from scratch." Folks at the firm follow a particular "information design / movie making approach" to patent application drafting.
3. When?
The first program will start October 15, 2013 and will last for four months. If the first goes well, the firm expects to repeat.
4. Where?
The program will be based in the firm's Bethesda, MD office. Interns must be physically present for the program. "We know there may be a demand to do this as a distance learning, but that's not available this time."
5. How?
"We've been developing a method for this for years, and we will fine tune it for people who may have never seen, touched or smelled a patent. We will use an issued patent at first, and use our writing materials to teach how to think about what they are writing. The open interview session will include an on-the-spot writing sample that they need to produce. Something routine and narrative like 'describe what you had for breakfast today, and how you prepared it.'"
6. Why?
"Patent drafting is a craft, and this is an apprenticeship." Students will walk away with real training and a good writing sample.
Apply immediately by submitting your resume with grades/rank, a writing sample and cover letter explaining your interest in this opportunity. Please highlight relevant PTO / law firm / industry experience. Interviews will be held the mornings of September 26, October 2, 3, 9 and 10. The interview will include a short writing portion. Apply by emailing Patricia Hong at: patricia.hong@plumsea.com.