A Seat in Intellectual Property Disputes

The Intellectual Property Disputes team sits within the firm’s Intellectual Property Legal Practice Group (LPG), alongside our Trade Mark attorney and Patent attorney practices. From day one, you join a warm, highly supportive team that will challenge you to think critically and creatively, develop your litigation skills, and build a robust understanding of the full spectrum of intellectual property rights.

Getting Started

The IP LPG advises on all core intellectual property rights, including copyright, trade marks, design rights and patents. Within that, the IP Disputes team focuses on contentious matters resulting from alleged infringements and the enforcement of our clients’ rights.

Importantly, the work is not limited to preparing for trial. You will spend significant time on preventative and early-stage enforcement activity—monitoring for potential infringements, helping clients protect their rights, and addressing issues before they escalate.

The IP Disputes team also includes lawyers who specialise in media and reputation matters, offering you the opportunity to get involved in these areas of work, which cover areas such as pre-publication reviews, reputation management and defamation or harassment claims.

No two six-month seats look the same and it is likely that you will work on multiple matters at once, across different sectors and products, applying a range of IP rights.

What makes the seat stand out?

This seat offers the opportunity to think creatively while working closely with the team on case strategy and the assessment of potential causes of action. That creativity is matched by the breadth of the client base from FTSE 100 company and household names, to smaller entrepreneurs and start ups. You will frequently work with, and gain exposure to, high profile clients across a range of sectors, including sport, retail and fashion, as well as advertising and technology.

Moving from an employment seat (which was equally rewarding in different ways) to IP Disputes, what distinguishes this seat is the smaller team size. You will often be the sole trainee, which affords exceptional exposure and the chance to work directly with partners and experienced colleagues, who, although as a whole are generalist IP litigators, often have their own specialisms. They value your ideas and judgment and provide consistently high quality feedback, helping you develop into a stronger trainee by the end of the seat.

Types of Trainee Tasks

Drafting cease and desist letters – You will prepare letters that set out clients’ rights, explain how those rights have been infringed, and outline potential consequences if infringement continues.
Drafting inter partes correspondence – Core responsibilities include drafting letters before action and preparing responses to the other side. You may also assist with without prejudice negotiations with a view to achieving a settlement of the dispute.
Research tasks – You will research points of law to support client advice, contribute to team know-how and prepare client training materials.
Gathering evidence of infringements – Clients often ask the team to investigate potential infringements prior to contacting the other side. You may conduct online searches, perform test purchases, and monitor whether an alleged infringer continues to commit infringing acts—building a practical understanding of evidential requirements.
Drafting instructions to counsel – You may get involved in drafting instructions to counsel, often for counsel to provide an initial merits assessment of a case. In doing so, you will be required to provide key background information, a chronology of events and often an accompanying bundle.
Attending calls – You will attend calls and prepare attendance notes, observing how colleagues tailor advice to different clients and how best to communicate complex points clearly and succinctly.
Litigation phases – Depending on the litigation stage of any issued claims during your seat in the team, you will support in the relevant phases including CMC preparation, disclosure, witness statement or preparation for trial.
Attending hearings and mediations – Where opportunities arise, you may attend court hearings or mediations. Seeing a case that you have worked on in front judge or mediator can be one of the most rewarding parts of the seat.

Why should I choose a seat in IP Disputes?

If you enjoy contentious work with diverse subject matter and real commercial impact, this seat offers a great opportunity. You will gain exposure to strategy, client engagement and accurate drafting, all within a supportive environment that invests in your growth.

The combination of early responsibility, close partner contact and genuinely interesting clients makes IP Disputes a good choice for trainees who want to develop quickly and contribute meaningfully.

What skills will you need?

Organisation – You will work on multiple matters with tight deadlines and need to track correspondence and court deadlines. This is a vital skill for IP Disputes and any seat.
Drafting – As a contentious seat there is often lots of back and forth correspondence between the parties. Through the feedback provided, you can find your own style of drafting that works for you and develop this.
Attention to detail – Often you will be tasked with proof reading documents for errors, grammar and spelling mistakes. This skill is also important in your own drafting and when analysing legal arguments and identifying potential weaknesses in a party’s case.
Adaptability – The nature of the disputes you are involved in vary in subject matter and with IP rights, you have to learn to be adaptable and shift quickly between working on different matters, mastering new issues swiftly.
Analysis – You will need to analyse a rightsholders’ IP rights alongside the allegedly infringing actions to assess whether there is likely to be an infringement of IP rights within the relevant statutory framework and in line with case law.
Putting forward a reasoned and justified argument – Often part of this seat will involve looking at the evidence available and putting together the most persuasive to present the strongest possible case. It requires academic interest in case law but a commercial mindset to understand the context to the infringement to seek out a potential resolution.

Final Thoughts

A seat in IP Disputes offers a hands-on learning experience. The tight-knit nature of the team means feedback and supervision are frequent and directly tied to your development. You will gain substantial drafting experience and meaningful client exposure, whether acting as a point of contact or through joining regular team calls. If this aligns with your interests, I would strongly recommend an IP Disputes seat.