The Trainee Exchange Programme
Under its Statutes, an aim of FICPI is:
"To promote the training and continuing education of its members and others interested in intellectual property protection by organising local and regional ad-hoc programmes."
The FICPI Academy has launched a trainee exchange/hosting programme under which trainees or young practitioners are afforded an opportunity to undertake in-house training within a host firm of a FICPI member IP attorney in another country or region.
Trainee Criteria
Candidate trainees shall have at least basic knowledge or experience in IP in their field (patents, trade marks, designs, etc.) in their home jurisdiction.
Ideally, but not necessarily, candidate students working in the field of patents will have successfully completed a FICPI patent drafting course.
Participating Firms
For firms, there are three options:
- Exchanging a Trainee:
An exchange may take place between two firms from different countries or regions, who will exchange young practitioners from their respective offices.
- Hosting a Trainee:
The programme may also simply consist, for a firm, in hosting a trainee from another jurisdiction, without any specific agreement with a firm in that other jurisdiction.*
- Referring a Trainee:
The programme may also simply consist, for a firm, in referring a trainee to another jurisdiction, without any specific agreement with a firm in that other jurisdiction.*
* FICPI will not be a party to any agreement between firm and trainee but can provide draft agreements, if necessary.
The Process
Interested firms are invited to express their willingness to participate in the programme for an exchange with another firm (Option 1) and/or for hosting a trainee (Option 2) and/or referring a trainee (Option 3).
FICPI believes that this programme will stimulate strong bonds between participating firms which will be of significant benefit to those firms in the future.
The trainees would benefit from work experience in another jurisdiction, with an opportunity to learn about the IP laws and practices of another part of the world, as well as exposure to alternative office systems not to mention the chance to live and work in a foreign city, albeit for a short time. Participating firms would benefit from the broader range of professional contacts that would undoubtedly ensue and from exposure to the perspective of young professionals in other countries.
Firms participating in the exchange program will undertake not to hire or solicit a trainee sent by another firm before the expiry of a 6-month period after the end of the training period.
FICPI has initiated an arrangement under which it will assist in the placement of trainees in participating firms.
HOW TO REGISTER
FICPI invites all interested firms and trainee/young practitioners to liaise using the FICPI Discussion Pages*.
TERM
The term of a placement is flexible, but a period of at least two months is recommended.
FINANCIAL
Trainees (or their regular employers) shall bear their own costs of travel to the host country and living costs in the host country. The host firm will provide a basic daily allowance to cover incidentals, such as daily travel and lunch. The host firm will also provide a suitable workstation, computer equipment, etc.
TRAINING
A list of training objectives, as detailed below, has been developed by FICPI to guide participating firms with respect to their obligations to the trainees. For example, the host firm should allow a trainee to accompany an attorney to client meetings, official hearings and the like. The trainee would work alongside an attorney in a variety of aspects of IP work in his/her field (patent/trademark/design application preparation, filing, prosecution, ….).
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
Ability
The trainee will have:
- at least a basic knowledge in IP in their field and preferably two years of experience in that field
- been assessed to be able to prepare a patent/trademark/design application in a straightforward case
- been presumed to understand the role of an IP attorney
- competence in at least one of the working languages of the host firm
General objectives
At the end of the training period, the trainee should have experienced an appropriate range of work and requirements of an IP attorney in the country or territory of the host firm.
* the FICPI Discussion Pages are visible in the Members' Area - you will need to login to your FICPI account to gain access