My path to intellectual property law has always been tied to my love for creativity. I didn’t first learn about IP in a classroom, I experienced it through my hobbies. In undergrad, I taught myself graphic design, experimenting with posters and branding ideas. What began as a creative outlet gave me an eye for how design choices shape identity and promote expression. I also started to pay more attention to the tiny ™ and ® symbols tucked into the corners of packaging and wondered what they held. How did the law protected the things that made a brand or design feel distinct?
Coming from a background in finance, I was trained to think about value in numerical terms. Over time, I realized that intangible things like a design, a story, or a brand could also hold real economic value. I learned that IP law exists to recognize, protect, and assign value to those intangibles bridging creativity, business, and innovation. This idea stayed with me even as I encountered experiences beyond finance and my creative hobbies.
One of the most formative moments in shaping my interests came before law school when I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose non-consensual cell donation fueled decades of groundbreaking medical research and patents. For the first time, I found myself asking where ownership lies when something intangible is both invaluable and deeply personal.
This question persisted into my 1L year, where Property and Torts provided the framework to analyze ownership, harm, and fairness more deeply. These courses helped frame who owns something and when harm occurs, but they didn’t fully answer my lingering questions about innovation and value in intangible creations. Thinking about that gap and reflecting back on how I knew creativity could be protected, I understood that there is a distinct area of law focused on protecting creative and intangible assets known as intellectual property.
As I began exploring IP careers, I initially thought “patent lawyer” was the IP path because it was the only aspect I had heard of. I started looking into patent prosecution (the practice of applying for and obtaining patents) and quickly learned that its prerequisite, sitting for the patent “bar” (a specialized licensing exam), typically requires a STEM background. That was deflating for about five minutes. I realized that the artistic parts of IP I already loved, trademarks and copyrights, need specialized attorneys. These fields need attorneys who can translate between creativity, commerce, and the law.
Although I was excited by this realization, I wanted to better understand how I could build a career at that intersection while at Loyola.
Building My IP Foundation
When I moved to Chicago for law school, I knew I wanted to immerse myself in a legal community where creativity, business, and advocacy intersected. I was happy that Loyola University Chicago School of Law, as well as the broader Chicago IP community, embodied that. My most formative experiences with IP have come through the Intellectual Property Law Society (IPLS) at Loyola itself and Chicago Women in IP (ChiWIP), a Chicago-based group for women attorneys in IP.
One of the earliest and most meaningful moments came when I grabbed coffee with Iris Gomez during my 1L fall semester, then a Loyola student and now an alum. Like me, she didn’t have a STEM background, but she was thriving in IP. Our conversation gave me a sense of belonging. Talking with her made the path ahead feel tangible and reassured me that there was space in IP for people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
That sense of possibility was reinforced when I attended IPLS’s No STEM Degree, No Problem panel as a 1L. Hearing local Chicago IP practitioners share their own non-STEM journeys reminded me that IP is so much broader than just patent prosecution. The panelists emphasized how skills like writing, creativity, and business knowledge were just as valuable as having a background in STEM, and that those different skills would benefit me as a future IP attorney. They also stressed that community is everything, and I began to see my finance background not as a weakness but as an asset.
Soon after the No Stem panel, I attended a speed networking event at Loyola in conjunction with the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Chicago (IPLAC). All the attorneys I spoke with had such enthusiasm about their practices that I walked away energized and inspired. Again, I was shown the possibilities in the field, and I could truly picture myself building a career in IP because the work seemed intellectually interesting and fulfilling.
Beyond Loyola, I found even more momentum in Chicago’s wider IP community through ChiWIP events. A design patent panel (patents that protect the ornamental design of objects) gave me a new way to connect IP directly with creativity, showing how law can engage with art and aesthetics. I also attended a ChiWIP hosted networking dinner that highlighted the mentorship, generosity, and collaboration that exist in this field. Being part of those events made IP feel even more like a community I wanted to actively contribute to and be a part of.
Loyola’s Role & Looking Ahead
Loyola’s IPLS has been at the center of this journey. As this year’s current Vice President of the IPLS executive board, I’ve met practitioners working in technology, healthcare, consumer goods, and beyond. Most importantly, Loyola confirmed that I could build a legal career centered around protecting intangible assets.
Beyond networking, Loyola has given me the chance to dive deeper academically and professionally. As a 2L, there are plenty of opportunities available. I’m currently taking Professor Ho’s IP Law survey course, Professor Das’ IP in Entertainment course, Professor Shulman’s IP Appellate Advocacy course, and I’m also part of the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition team that focuses on trademark and unfair competition law. These opportunities are helping me sharpen the knowledge and advocacy skills I’ll need to thrive in the IP legal field.
What started as a fascination with creativity and the intangible has grown into a clear career path. IP law gives me a toolkit to protect the ideas that shape culture, support underrepresented creators, and promote ethical innovation. The more I engage with the field, the more I see how it aligns with the kind of impact I want to have.
Georgette Helo
Assistant Blogger
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D. 2027