Reddie & Grose

About Reddie & Grose

Reddie & Grose LLP is an internationally renowned firm of European and United Kingdom patent, trade mark and design attorneys. Our experienced team of over 100 IP professionals based in London, Cambridge, Munich and The Hague includes specialists in a wide range of technical disciplines.

We offer services for a wide range of industries, with particular strengths in electronics and software, mechanical engineering, chemistry, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Our trade mark team provides specialist advice on branding and trade mark work; we also have a specialist team handling plant variety protection.

Range of client services

We handle the full range of IP rights for a global client base ranging from SMEs starting to consider IP through to large corporations with rights in over 100 countries. In the UK and Europe we work closely with solicitors, barristers and other members of the legal profession to support clients in litigation before the courts. Our services range from investigating competing rights, handling oppositions, drafting and filing applications, and maintaining portfolios. We resolve disputes about IP, working closely with other leading legal firms if it becomes necessary to resort to the courts.

Benefits

26 days annual leave plus bank public holidays
Remote home working (60% office / 40% working from home for trainees)
Discretionary Christmas bonus
Private Pension Scheme (with optional salary sacrifice)
Semi-annual meetings with a Pensions Advisor
Group Life Assurance (up to 3x salary)
Interest free season ticket loan
Private medical scheme
Family friendly policies
Cycle to work scheme (salary sacrifice scheme)
Active social events calendar
Eye care vouchers
Employee Assistance Programme
Employee Referral Scheme
Paid Charity Leave Day
Access to cycle store and shower facilities
Comprehensive graduate training programme
Paid study leave leading up to professional exams.
Positive culture for work-life balance
Daily delivery of fresh fruit

Minimum academic requirements

At least a 2:1 degree in a scientific or technical subject as, well as excellent English. We also welcome applications from those completing a doctorate, undertaking postgraduate research, or working in industry.

Recruitment Process

Each year we recruit a number of Trainee Patent and Trade Mark attorneys to join our successful firm. We typically advertise these roles from September – December each year.

When roles are advertised, we will review applications throughout the application window and make every effort to contact each person with the status of their application as quickly as possible. However, if our Partners decide to make an offer before the stated closing date, all pending applicants will be informed.

Following the initial screening process, successful applicants will be invited to a MS Teams interview with one partner and a member of the HR team. In addition, all candidates will be expected to complete a technical written exercise.

If successful, candidates will be invited for a second face-to-face interview with further partners, and they will have the opportunity to meet with current trainees over a coffee.

Following this, successful applicants will be offered a role within the business and unsuccessful applicants will be informed and provided feedback if requested.

Reasonable adjustments: When inviting candidates for their first-round interview, we ask whether the candidates needs reasonable adjustments and act accordingly.

Why become a Patent Attorney?

Why become a Trade Mark Attorney

Life at Reddie & Grose

Training and Development

Each year, we recruit a number of Trainee Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys to join our successful firm. Trainees join us as Technical Assistants and are allocated to our EES (Electrical, Electronics and Software), EMCP (Engineering, Materials and Consumer Products), LS (Life Sciences) and TM (Trade Mark) practice groups. To help our staff reach their full potential, we provide a comprehensive and structured training programme that is recognised as being one of the best in the profession. We invest time and resources in developing our talent, providing support from day one. Every new trainee will work closely with the partners of the firm, who will be responsible overall for training and development as the new joiners develop their role in the teams looking after our clients.

As a complement to this traditional learn by working training, we have developed a bespoke training programme for our new trainees, which is intended to bring them up to speed with some of the core concepts of intellectual property law, and to provide a degree of communal practical tuition. The training programme begins with a two-week intensive training induction (“Bootcamp”), introducing the basics of trade mark law, patent law and other intellectual property rights including design protection. The training induction also includes sessions dealing with important practical aspects of the job including, but not limited to “how to communicate with clients”, “effective marketing”, and “the role of a trainee”. The training programme then continues with weekly sessions devoted to practical training. Our trainees work through different tasks of increasing complexity each week, and their work is then assessed by a partner or qualified attorney. Both communal and individual feedback is provided as part of a group discussion. These practical training sessions ensure that all our new trainees are exposed to the same core practical examples, providing them with the tools to develop their skills together.

After this, new trainees will be supported through a 13-week part-time course leading to the Certificate in Intellectual Property Law (currently provided by Queen Mary, University of London). The Chartered Trade Mark Attorney qualification is through the part-time course at Nottingham, also known as the Trade Mark Practice, Professional Certificate. We want our trainees to have access to the best support they can get, so to support them through the formal qualification process, we offer on-the-job training, personalised in-house tutorials and access to external training courses. They are also encouraged to take advantage of courses and lectures provided by the Chartered Institute of Patent/Trade Mark Attorneys.

Reflections from some of our 2023 graduate trainees:

“It’s hard to believe it has only been a few months since we started at R&G. Bootcamp was a fantastic environment to not only meet your fellow trainees, but a great chance to get to know members of the firm across a variety of technical fields in which your day-to-day work may not take you. As a life science trainee, I think it’s important to get to grips with the mechanical-style patents we will be wrestling with in our exams. Our weekly training tasks have been very useful for this, I can’t say in my day-to-day work I come across many wasp traps or tooth paste squeezers! Following on from bootcamp I’ve dived straight into drafting responses to patent offices throughout the world.

One of the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of the job has been to understand how complex a single patent application can be when it starts to be prosecuted from America to Europe, from Canada to Japan. One invention may lead to quite different granted patents in a range of jurisdictions because of different IP law frameworks. It has been fascinating to see how an attorney has to adapt their approach to ensure the client gets the best protection for their invention, wherever they want it.” – James Cartwright

“My time so far at Reddie & Grose started with an intensive two-week bootcamp where I got to meet and work alongside the other new trainees, as well as a variety of people at the firm. In this time, we were introduced to the fundamentals of patent law, and the work of Reddie and Grose, through a series of engaging talks and activities. The bootcamp experience eased my start into the role, getting to understand the work, and the people, from the very beginning. Since then, the ongoing training programme and hands-on casework has exposed me to the variety of work at R&G; from corresponding with clients, responding to examiners and plenty of reading about innovative technology. I have enjoyed the challenge so far of getting to grips with the legal side of the work, with a focus on complex technology, whilst balancing a client’s commercial goals, and I look forward to the rest of my training towards being a qualified Patent Attorney”. – Hannah Nagle

“The initial two weeks of training set the stage for what has turned out to be an incredible learning experience. Bootcamp equipped me with the essential knowledge to navigate the intricate world of Intellectual Property, and, since then, I’ve loved the challenge of getting to grips with a wide variety of fascinating cases. From laser machining to autonomous vehicles to medical devices, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed unravelling the crux of many cutting-edge ideas. The sociable atmosphere and welcoming community has made every day enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead!” – Sam Pfeffer-Matthews

“My first two months at Reddie & Grose have been thoroughly enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the first two weeks completing ‘bootcamp’ in London; it was a great opportunity to get an insight into life at the firm from the outset, understand the fundamentals of patent law and other areas of IP law, whilst also getting to know the other trainees in my cohort and integrating with the London Office. Everyone was so supportive, friendly and sociable!

Adjusting to a completely new subject area of law and way of working has been the most challenging aspect so far and the training sessions that have continued weekly have meant that we have managed to develop our skillsets quickly whilst being exposed to a broad range of legal and technical areas in such a short space of time. Getting used to the technical law language and then applying the teaching to real-life scenarios and clients in practice has been the hardest part. I like the fact that the learning is fast-paced and continues to challenge us. Whilst we are encouraged to independently think about the tasks, the training debriefs also allow us to get involved in informed discussions with our fellow trainees and are run by partners and associates at the firm which I think has been really beneficial to learn from each other, enabling us to get different perspectives on how to approach different cases and develop professionally by getting to know our colleagues.

If I was to give any advice to people thinking about entering the patent profession, it would be that the job is a challenging role, one which requires hard work, commitment, attention to detail and the ability to process large volumes of information, but also one which is extremely interesting and rewarding.” – Chloe Skidmore

Collaborating with Pacific Legal

We are proud to partner with Pacific Legal Training, a leading legal training provider in the UK. They have developed an online, examination-focused training course for the Patent Examination Board Final Diploma Papers.

In seeking qualified tutors to lead this program, our esteemed attorneys, Bruce Torrance and Alex Maxwell-Keys, were invited to conduct the tutorials for FD1 and FD4 due to their expertise and experience. Each tutorial involves reviewing and providing personalised feedback on up to 10 trainees’ answer scripts, followed by a single debrief session conducted via Teams.

After the FD sessions led by Bruce and Alex this year (2024), we are pleased to share the following testimonials:

Alex Maxwell-Keys (FD4):

How was the feedback and comments provided on your answer script?

“I was very happy that Alex provided clear, thoughtful and thorough comments. He had obviously spent a lot of time going through my paper.”

Did the session meet your expectations?

“… The quality and detail of Alex’s comments was better than I expected.”

How would you rate the effectiveness of the tutor, Alex?

“Alex was great …. His powerpoint was well put together, everything he said was clear and I came away with some great suggestions for how to tackle this challenging paper.”

Bruce Torrance (FD1):