Diversity for Solos

Tufty

We have been having ever such fun over on twitter debating diversity in the patent profession. Our newest, youngest, most diverse CIPA council member, Simone Ferrara is concerned about the diversity of the profession. His interest was triggered by the BBC news post about the elitism in British society. Now we are all aware that CIPA is very interested in its role in building up the Status of the profession and other things like Learning and Influence and something beginning with C. That has been debated over on LinkedIn.

IPReg has some duty to understand the diversity of the profession. However, why should our representative body be haranguing us to recruit from other universities. It seems to me that recruitment strategies are something that CIPA could genuinely be interested in because they are interested in Learning training. The purpose of this blog is therefore to provide a platform with a little bit more space so that recruitment experts can have their say. How about it @EIP_Careers?

Students aspiring to be patent agents also need to know what attributes make a good patent attorney. In my opinion, there are some that need to be inherent in the candidate when the kitten arrives. One of those, that is most significant to me, is a quick mind that is receptive to new information. This means looking for high-end academic ability. Strangely, Oxford and Cambridge select on a similar basis. The sloggers of this world are going to have difficulty catching up with our inventors. I'm not looking for super high-end. I have known all too many Ph.D.'s who think they know far more than the inventor about a subject. What I want is a bright enquiring open mind.

On that foundation, many things can be taught. The law for one. An ability to write would be a superb starting point. Even that can be taught. Business issues and Marketing are skills the kitten will need to learn. Client facing skills are an interesting topic and Advocay is dear to my heart for the neglect it has suffereds.

The LinkedIn debate contains a suggestion that there is evidence that nearly all current patent agents have the personality characteristics of INTJ on the Myers Briggs test, which makes them bookish and not inclined to use twitter or social media. This makes getting them to debate a challenge. In many ways this may be the measure of diversity we want to change rather than the names of Univerisites on the CV. A few more outgoing, entrepreneurial members of the profession would be very welcome.

Hopefully the advent of ABS will allow kittens of wider skill sets to find homes within the patent profession. One way of encouraging such diversity would be to encourage patent agents to do a little bit more than boring old agency work, however profitable that might be. We need to open our minds and offer our clients more. In short, you might find that the solos you have excluded have something to say.