IP law covers quite some ground, from high-tech inventions to
product designs to computer software to brand names. As you
might expect, it’s practised by a wide range of lawyers, from
bearded engineering types in polyester trousers to trendy dudes
with ponytails. Patent attorneys sometimes refer to their field as
hard IP, and everything else as soft IP. They’re the kind of
people who at varsity told jokes like this: Q: What’s the
difference between a pizza and a humanities’ graduate? A: A
pizza can feed a family of four. Trade mark attorneys, acutely
aware of the fact that their profession was once discussed in the
magazine Private Eye under the heading ‘What a pathetic way
to make a living’, grimace and bear it. Although
patent and trade mark attorneys work in the same firms, they have
precious little in common.
