{"id":838,"date":"2020-08-26T18:04:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T18:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/?p=838"},"modified":"2024-07-13T07:45:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T07:45:02","slug":"my-journey-to-ip-at-loyola-university-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/my-journey-to-ip-at-loyola-university-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"My Journey to IP at Loyola University Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Not) Aboard the IP Train <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I first heard about intellectual property (IP) law during my junior year of college. I had a friend in the school of engineering who planned to pursue a career in patent law<\/a>. My friend explained to me that a patent is a way to protect someone\u2019s invention. She also mentioned that patent law is a subset of a larger legal area called IP. When I asked how someone becomes a patent attorney, she said that you need a science degree. As an economics major, I was put-off by this statement. I thought that IP was not an option for me. I can gladly say that I was wrong. Before I explain why IP is an option for me, let me explain how I ended up at law school in the first place! <\/p>\r\n

A One-Way Ticket to Loyola <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Doctors diagnosed my grandmother with cancer when I was in high school. Doctors pumped her full of medicine, and she was part of an experimental clinical trial<\/a> at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The doctors gave my family hope that this new drug was going to help her. She passed away one year after being diagnosed. I was upset and frustrated. No one ever explained to me what a drug trial was or how people are picked to be part of one. I came to law school to learn more about laws that govern the healthcare field.<\/p>\r\n

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Photo by Jonathon Borba, licensed under Unsplash.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Loyola\u2019s top-ranked health law program initially drew me to the school. However, visiting Loyola in person revealed much more. I attended Admitted Students\u2019 Day at Loyola University Chicago<\/a> and knew Loyola was the school for me. Admitted Students\u2019 Day was in the Spring before my 1L year. I was able to mingle with other prospective students, sat in on a mock class in a beautiful courtroom, and discussed the school with current students and professors. I instantly fit in! I also loved being close to Michigan Avenue with excellent dining and shopping spots. It was a perfect downtown location!<\/p>\r\n

Loyola\u2019s tutor program was one thing that really stood out to me. One or two upper-class students serve as tutors for nearly every 1L class. They attend class, review the class content in their office hours, and give feedback on practice exam-type questions. I am so glad I chose Loyola! I was a confident 1L in large part because of the tutors. I also felt very supported by my fellow classmates and my professors.<\/p>\r\n

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Checking into IP at Loyola<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

One of the primary sources of support I received at Loyola was through Professor Cynthia Ho<\/a>. Professor Ho was my 1L Civil Procedure professor and is the Director of Intellectual Property. Professor Ho mentioned to me that you don\u2019t need a science degree to pursue a career in IP and that this is a common misconception. On the first day of class, Professor Ho asked us to write a brief introduction about ourselves on a notecard as well as any area of law we might be interested in. I wrote that I was interested in learning more about IP now that I knew a science degree was not necessary. From then on, she frequently emailed me information about IP-related events. She has been a great resource.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Discovering a 5 Star Place for Me<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Professor Ho encouraged me to attend a speed networking event at Loyola. At this event, I spoke to several attorneys who have excelled in their IP careers without a science background. Some of these attorneys were protecting well-known brands, such as McDonalds,<\/a> through trademarks. I was so excited to hear that my college assumptions about IP were wrong! I am thankful that Professor Ho kept reaching out, or else I may not have discovered that there was a place for me within IP.<\/p>\r\n

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Photo by Joshua Austin, licensed under Unsplash.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Once Professor Ho piqued my interest, I began looking into IP and picked up information from IP professionals. Throughout my 1L year, I looked through IP lawyer blogs<\/a> and read news articles about IP topics. I realized that while IP was a niche area of the law, there are many more career options than I expected, such as trademark and copyright law.<\/p>\r\n

I also learned that IP law is often relevant in the healthcare field. For example, IP provides opportunities<\/a> for companies to develop and market new drugs. There are aspects of the healthcare field that can be patented, such as medicine and equipment. I was relieved that I found a career path that excited me and even fit my initial interests in health law.<\/p>\r\n

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My First Stop: Discover Financial Services \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I was fortunate during my 1L summer to get IP experience as an intern at Discover Financial Services.<\/a> I met an IP attorney at Discover who had no science background. A majority of her work involves protecting the company logo. During my internship, I was able to attend a trademark seminar where I learned about how a trademark case proceeds in court and about federal trademark application requirements.<\/p>\r\n

I also learned about patent trolls<\/a>, which are entities that take out generalized patents and demand money from those who make, use, or sell the allegedly patented inventions. One project that I worked on was to help the company find patent risk management entities to protect against these trolls. Another project I worked on during my summer was reading and summarizing license agreements regarding various patents. Even without a science background, I found that this built on my 1L knowledge from contract law. I loved working on these types of projects and found it extremely exciting. The internship solidified my interest in IP law.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Adding Stamps to My Passport <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I am excited to continue learning about IP! From connecting with IP attorneys to learning more about current IP topics as a member of IP Bytes,<\/em> there is a lot to look forward to. I am excited about learning more in Professor Ho\u2019s IP class this fall semester and finding a new internship in the IP world for next summer. I hope to ultimately find a position in the healthcare field which intersects with IP. It will also be exciting to be a tutor for the 1Ls this upcoming fall semester, as I loved the program as a 1L myself! But, for now, I\u2019m eager to keep building on my IP knowledge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Lily Liermann<\/em>
Assistant Blogger<\/em>
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D. 2020<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Not) Aboard the IP Train I first heard about intellectual property (IP) law during my junior year of college. I had a friend in the school of engineering who planned to pursue a career in patent law. My friend explained to me that a patent is a way to protect someone\u2019s invention. She also mentioned that patent law is a subset of a larger legal … Continue reading My Journey to IP at Loyola University Chicago<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[153,169,184,355],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-why-loyola","tag-ip-law","tag-law-school-summer-internship","tag-loyola-university-chicago","tag-why-loyola"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4303,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/4303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}