Every year, Dawn Ellmore Employment releases an Employment Survey for the Intellectual Property (IP) legal sector. And we have great news for IP professionals this year, as our research shows that patent and trade mark salaries will remain buoyant throughout 2018.
Strong pay rates
We work with a range of IP candidates and firms to work out the most comprehensive and accurate overview of pay rates in this sector for 2018. This year follows previous ones, in that salaries have been rising steadily, and indicates that this increase will continue.
The results show that there are strong pay rates in the IP sector, with graduate trainees receiving a salary of up to £34,000 per annum. We’ve also found that there are substantial year-on-year increases in regions outside of London.
Specialist sector of law
There are myriad reasons for graduates to move into patent and trade mark law, including the range of clients they will work with during their career. Becoming a patent attorney attracts science and engineering graduates in particular, along with candidates with an analytical bent and wish to help clients make a tangible difference in their field.
We’ve found that the competitive salaries along with the work/life balance achievable for those in IP law combine to attract quality candidates looking for a trainee or another IP position in the industry.
Detailed salary analysis
The survey has been picked up by industry media as the definitive overview of IP law salaries. Highlights include information on fully qualified patent attorneys with up to four years’ post qualification experience (PQE), who can now expect to make up to £84,000 per annum.
We also look at trade mark attorneys, newly qualified IP solicitors and support staff in the survey. Rates across almost all positions have been rising, with qualified trade mark attorneys with four years’ PQE earning up to £73,000 per annum, and newly qualified IP solicitors making around £62,000 per annum.
Graduate trainee rates rising
The expected salary for graduate trainees of £34,000 per annum is again an increase on last year’s amount. The Dawn Ellmore Salary Survey analyses salary ranges for support staff, technical staff, secretarial employees, administration and office support staff and in almost all cases we found that salaries have risen most outside of London.
This also includes junior positions, with office junior roles going up to between £16,500 and £19,000 for 2018, up from £15,000 and £18,000 last year.
Demand for IP professionals growing
Our salary results for 2018 show that there is an ever-increasing demand for expertise across all levels within IP law. We want candidates to be aware of the strong salaries they can look forward to in a sector that is getting stronger and stronger. The entire survey can be seen here.
Contact us for more information on the wide range of positions we have available right now.