As IP experts who value innovation as highly as you do, we want to empower you to realise your ideas and ambitions. To this end, we provide unparalleled support from industry experts from your very first week with us!
Training is in our DNA. In the 1860s, our original founders, Haseltine and Lake, believed in and trained the next generation of patent attorneys, many of whom went on to be at the forefront of the patent profession. We have continued this tradition of training, and in 2013 we launched our HLK Academy, which is an in-house training school set up to support early stage patent training.
The HLK Academy is split into two semesters. During the first semester, sessions are held twice weekly and delivered by a faculty of experienced IP practitioners. You’ll learn practical classroom based learning on a range of core patent concepts and skills that enable you to contribute to your team early on. The second semester sessions are held twice monthly providing you the opportunity to consolidate core skills and consider some challenging new IP issues in greater depth.
The HLK Academy is one of the things that makes a traineeship with HLK unique, here’s why:
“The HLK Academy is a brilliant training scheme allowing experienced attorneys to share their knowledge with those new to the IP profession. I’ve been teaching at the Academy from its outset in 2013, and I find it incredibly rewarding to witness the trainees’ development journey on their way to qualifying and celebrating their successes with them.”
“The HLK Academy has been a great way to get to know the other trainees in my cohort as well as getting to know the other attorneys who work in the different offices. The training I have received so far has been genuinely fantastic. Everyone I have talked to has been extremely willing to give up their time to help explain or clarify things when I have questions. The HLK Academy helps to set the context for a lot of important principals and aspects of the law, which is helpful when it comes to the day-to-day work.”
Our HLK Academy continues beyond these initial programmes and provides comprehensive support to our trainees in the run up to the Foundations and Finals examinations, including in-house tutorials for examination preparation, residential revision courses and generous study leave. Thanks to this support, we have had some impressive exam results since Academy was launched. The UK patent examinations are notoriously tough, but our trainees have excelled in the Foundations and Finals examinations with very high pass rates compared to other firms.
Check out what some of our current trainees have to say about their experience with HLK thus far!
More information on how to become a Patent Attorney can be found here at the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and more information on becoming a Trade Mark Attorney can be found here at the Chartered Institute of Trademark Attorneys (CITMA).