Intellectual Property Law has always been a popular field of study among the students. The intellectual property lawyer is responsible for handling legal rights that revolve around creative and intellectual innovations. The lawyer protects the freedom of the people engaged in creating such amazing things. These lawyers have to deal with issues like patents, copyrights. Industrial design rights, trademarks, infringement, trade secret and many such issues.
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Eligibility
To become an intellectual property lawyer, the candidate must have intellectual skills and the right amount of qualifications. The minimal eligibility criteria to become an intellectual property lawyer are mentioned below.
- The candidate must have completed their class 12 board exams and graduation. The candidates from Humanities background are given more preference though a student from any background can apply.
- The minimum marks required are 50 percent marks.
- The candidate must appear in a common law entrance exam and qualify in it.
Courses
At the UG level, one can select the 5 year Integrated Bachelor’s Degree with LLB. One can get into law even after completing their graduation too. However, they will have to clear the entrance examinations for getting admission in the courses.
LLM is one year Masters Degree in law that offers specialisations in different fields like intellectual property law. A candidate who has passed the LLB degree can apply for LLM degree.
For MPhil and PHD, the candidates must have passed their LLM degree or equivalent degree to be eligible for MPhil or PHD. The MPhil is a yearlong program.
Specialisations in intellectual property law
- Copyright law
- Patent law
- Trade secret law
- Trademark law
- Information technology and cyber crimes law
Top colleges
- National Law University, Delhi
- Law College, Dhanbad
- NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
- Government Law College, Mumbai
- Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
Types of Jobs
After completing the course in this field, there are plenty of jobs that are open to the candidates for them to consider. Some of them are mentioned below:
Legal associates: They understand the requirements of the clients and then come up with solutions on intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property lawyer: They deal with different issues relating to patents, licensing, copyright, distribution, trademark law, franchising and other such issues.
Judge: They have the job of managing the different legal procedures. The judge sees the proceedings at the court and then gives an unbiased decision.
Lecturer: The lecturer is responsible for researching, developing and delivering the laws concerning intellectual property.
Author: The author is actually a creator or a curator of any written document that explores laws, rights and research involving intellectual property laws.
Employment Sector
There are some popular sectors that hire an intellectual property lawyer.
- Fashion industry
- Tech industry
- Oil and gas industry
- Life sciences
- Media and entertainment
- IT sectors
- Pharma
- Sports
- Biotechnology
- Publishing houses
Top Recruiting Companies
There is a requirement for intellectual property lawyers worldwide. Some of the companies that provide employment to intellectual property lawyer are
- Remfry & Sagar
- W.S. Kane & Co
- Inttl Advocare
- Chadha & Chadha IP
- Obhan & Associates
- Khaitan & Co LLP
- Singh & Singh Law Firm LLP
- Saikrishna & Associates
Salary of Intellectual Property Lawyer
Depending on the profile and the experience of the intellectual property lawyer, the salary will also differ accordingly.
- Legal associates- Rs 1, 99, 000 to 10, 00, 000
- Intellectual property lawyer- Rs 2, 40, 000 to 11, 00, 000
- Judge- Rs 8, 00, 000 to 30, 00, 000
- Lecturer- Rs 2, 92, 000 to 6, 10, 000
- Author- Rs 2, 48, 000 to 8, 11, 000
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