About David Jasiewicz: I’m David, a trainee patent attorney in our Manchester office. I have a background in chemistry and before joining Appleyard Lees I worked in a patent law firm in Japan. Outside of work I enjoy playing tennis, and more recently looking after my new born daughter.
Here in the Manchester office, on the second Thursday of every month, all of the technical staff (read: patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys, solicitors, and trainees) are invited to take part in informal meetings that currently go under the name of Tek Talks.
Before we all started working from home, the meetings would be held at lunchtimes in the large meeting room on the 8th floor of our building, allowing colleagues from the 1st and 8th floors to catch up and enjoy some fresh wraps and sandwiches. These days, as with everything else, they take place online in a group video call. Not that I’m complaining, it’s the most social interaction I get all month! These meetings are also a great way to learn from people with more experience than me.
Since home working began, the Tek Talks have eventually settled into a 2pm time slot. This is good because it gives us more freedom during the lunch hour before we descend upon our laptops. Also, the sound of people munching into their microphones is something we can all do without.
As a trainee, I need to keep up to date with the latest developments in case law and procedure, not only for my day to day work but also for passing my exams. This is why Tek Talks are really useful. For one thing, I get to hear about the latest developments from the partners and associates in the firm. For another, the trainees regularly get to give short presentations on case law of their choosing. As a result, I get to learn by teaching as well as brush up on my presentation skills.
In each Tek Talk I also present an update on the official journal of the European Patent Office (“the OJ” for fans of citrus drinks, although personally I prefer apple juice). The OJ is where any notices and changes in the law relating to European patents are officially published. All trainees taking the European qualifying exams have to know the juicy details of what’s going on in the OJ, so giving this update is actually really helpful for me.
In the last TekTalk, I ended up giving a case law presentation right after my OJ update. The case I chose was about a missing comma in a claim, but hopefully listening to me talking for so long didn’t put any of my colleagues in a coma!
