Intellectual Property
Salary Survey 2014
Intellectual Property
Salary Survey 2014
Our third annual Intellectual Property (IP) salary survey has just been completed.
We contacted our network of Intellectual Property professionals (Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys) in order to gain market intelligence into average salaries, bonuses and benefits currently being received in the profession. We also gauged opinion on the future of the sector by asking those in the know – the Attorneys – their market predictions for the next 12 months.
With 20% more Attorneys completing the survey compared to 2013, we are able to present a genuine snapshot of the profession in 2014 and draw conclusions from our respondents’ answers.
Contents
• Key Findings 4 • Sample Profile 5 • Average Salary Breakdown 9 • Financial Package and Benefits 15 • Key Motivators To Move Jobs 17 • What Does The Future Look Like? 18
Key Findings
There has been an increase in responses from Attorneys working in industry – from 13% to 24%.
A ‘significant’ increase in the number of respondents with a Chemistry/Pharmaceutical background - which may be indicative of more Attorneys with these skill sets on the market than in 2013.
The largest increase in average salaries is in the ‘Senior Associate’ qualified bracket, which has seen an 11% increase YOY. There is an argument to support the trend of post-qualified Attorneys being keenly retained by their employers via salary increases – a strong retention tool. Average basic salaries for Attorneys are relatively higher in Law Firms compared to private practice and industry. Average salaries in the Electronics and Physics specialisms are the highest across the industry, with most being paid in the £70K - £90K bracket.
9 in 10 professionals in the IP sector have a bonus scheme in addition to their basic salary .
An increased focus on UK applications in view of the impending Unified Patent Court.
An increasing trend for Senior Associates setting up their own firms, as the perceived route to Partnership becomes harder to attain.
Sample Profile
• Our sample mainly consisted of London or SE based individuals, who work in Private Practices.
• Interestingly, the percentage of those working in ‘Industry / In House’ increased this year to almost a quarter of the sample size: in 2013 it was 13%.
2014
London 41%
SE England 15%
SW England 14%
East Anglia 9%
The Midlands 8%
NW England 7%
NE England 4%
Scotland 1%
Wales 1%
Region
Employer Type
Industry / In House
Law Firm/Solicitors
Sample Profile
2013
Region
London 42% SE England 15% SW England 10% East Anglia 0% The Midlands 13% NW England 8% NE England 9% Scotland 2% Wales 1%
Employer Type
Industry / In House
Law Firm/Solicitors
Sample Profile
• This year we have seen substantially more Chemistry/Pharmaceutical respondents, but slightly fewer Telecoms and Mechanical Engineering respondents.
2014
Area of Specialism
Qualification Level
Biotechnology / Life Science
Chemistry / Pharmaceuticals Trade Marks
Telecoms / Software
Mechanical Engineering
Sample Profile
2013
Area of Specialism
Biotechnology / Life Science
Chemistry / Pharmaceuticals Trade Marks
Telecoms / Software
Mechanical Engineering
Average Salary -
Comparison wth 2013
• The overall average salary in the industry is £69,000, splitting into; £71,350 in London and the SE and £66,000 in all other areas.
• Evidence suggests there is still a London/SE premuim for salaries.
• At most levels of qualification, there are increases within London and the South East.
* the sample size for salaried partners was less than 10, so averages are somewhat skewed.
Job Title 2014 Average
London /SE Salary
Average non - London salary
Trainee (Patent and Trade Mark)
£29,740 £26,750 Part-Qualified £44,150 £38,920 Associate: Patent Attorney £69,400 £59,300 Associate: Trademark Attorney £56,900 £52,500 Senior Associate: Patent
Attorney
£85,500 £70,200 Senior Associate:
Trademark Attorney
£70,160 £64,130 Partner: Salaried £127,500* £105,000*
Non fee-earning roles
Patent Admin/Paralegal (Support) £34,850 £32,500 Trademark Admin/ Paralegal (Support) £28,000 £27,500
All other areas
London and SE average salary
Average Salary -
Comparison with 2013
• Positively, salaries have generally increased from 2013 averages across the industry at all levels of professional qualification.
• The most significant average increases are in the ‘Senior Associate’ level for Patent Attorneys – an increase in average salaries for qualified Attorneys of 11% YOY.
Salary increase
Job Title 2014 Average London /SE Salary
2013 Average 2014 Average non- London Salary
2013 Average
Trainee (Patent and
Trade Mark) £29,740
£28,450 £26,750 £26,500 Part-Qualified £44,150 £42,300 £38,920 £38,000 Associate: Patent
Attorney £69,400
£62,000 £59,300 £58,750 Associate:
Trademark Attorney £56,900
£56,800 £52,500 £47,850 Senior Associate:
Patent Attorney £85,500
£76,245 £70,200 £65,750 Senior Associate:
Trademark Attorney £70,160
£66,450 £64,130 £59,230 Partner: Salaried £127,500 £109,600 £105,000 £93,340
Non fee
Non fee-earning roles
Patent Admin/
Paralegal (Support) £34,850
£32,500 £32,500 £28,000 Trademark Admin/
Paralegal (Support) £28,000
Average Salary -
By Employer Type
• Average basic salaries for respondents indicate that those Attorneys working in Law Firms / Solicitors appear to be remunerated comparatively higher than both private practice and industry.
• Average salaries for Industry departments and Private Practice are comparable.
Law Firms/Solicitors Industry / In House Private Practice
Salary distribution by Employer Type;
Average Salary by Employer Type;
Average Salary -
By Area of Specialism
• Average salaries within the Electronics / Physics sector are the highest across the industry, with most being paid within in the £70 - £90k bracket. The trend of Electronics biased Attorneys being better paid than other technologies in the profession comes under scrutiny again.
• Chemistry/Pharmaceuticals are mostly paid within the £60-£70k bracket. • The majority of Telecoms/Software respondents are paid in the £50 - £60k
bracket; averages for this group are higher due to a quarter being paid between £70-90k.
Salary by Employer Type;
Salary by Employer Type;
Trade Marks Mechanical
Engineering
Telecoms / Software Electronic /
Physics
Biotechnology/ Life Sciences
Chemistry / Pharmaceuticals
Average Salary -
By Area of Specialism
• Biotechnology/Life Sciences Attorneys are gradually becoming more in demand, mainly in Practice.
• Mechanical Engineering respondents tended to earn less on average than the other Patent Attorney specialisms.
• Trade Mark Attorneys have the lowest average pay due to a quarter of
respondents being paid in the £30-£40k bracket. This may be as a result of the new examination process.
Salary by Employer Type;
Salary by Employer Type;
Trade Marks Mechanical
Engineering
Telecoms / Software Electronic /
Physics
Biotechnology/ Life Sciences
Chemistry / Pharmaceuticals
Average Salary -
By Qualification
• The qualification variances for CPA and EPA qualifications are based on basic salaries.
• The CPA figure of £62,720 and the EPA figure of £55,250 are average newly qualified salaries based on respondents.
• Figures suggest that those Attorneys who hold the CPA qualification are more likely to be paid comparatively higher than those with an EPA qualification.
• What is less certain to accurately determine, is the correlation of those Attorneys who are dual-qualified. Salaries would appear to rise incrementally, with steady uplifts between 4 and 5 years PQE in particular (this could indicate a move to salaried partner level in some firms).
Additional Financial Package
• 9 in 10 professionals in the IP industry have a bonus scheme in addition to their basic salary, with almost a quarter of individuals also having a share scheme (more prevelant in industry).
• Loyalty/retention bonuses and examination bonuses are becoming gradually more common and are predominately offered in Private Practice.
Additional Benefits across the market;
2013 2014
Additional Benefits
• In additional to basic salaries, most respondents also had a contributory pension with more than half also having Death in Service.
• Professionals in the IP industry tend to receive four benefits in addition to their basic salary, with Private Practice companies providing less soft benefits to its employees.
• In this year’s survey we saw a marked decrease in Childcare Vouchers as an additional benefit.
Additional Benefits across the market;
2013 2014
Key Motivators To Move Job
What Does The Future Look
Like?
• As the economy begins to return to a more buoyant and stable footing several of our respondents hoped it would mean an increase in jobs.
• There is a consensus among respondents that a step change in how progression is created will occur within the market, with more individual firms set up to create more partner and progression opportunities.
More vacancies!
“Greater demand for qualified individuals as global economy recovers.”
“The market seems to be loosening up and we are definitely busier. This
seems to be leading to an increasing number of vacancies, so possibly
more of a seller’s market.”
“More movement of staff to new jobs as economy improves and perceived
risk of moving decreases.”
“More lateral hiring as workload increases across sectors and recruitment is
driven at the qualified level.”
What Does The Future Look
Like?
Changes in progression/promotions...
“I think the larger partnerships are becoming rather stagnant, and are
unlikely to be admitting sufficient numbers of additional partners to keep
hold of good quality associates without offering significant pay incentives.”
“More new firms - as entrepreneurial salaried partners and/or in house
counsel seek more quotable remuneration models.”
“More start up firms in reponse to lengthening partnership tracks at
established firms.”
“Increase in the number of frustrated associates/senior associates moving
or setting up their own firms as partnership becomes ever more difficult to
attain.”
What Does The Future Look
Like?
• In response to the changes in progression and the anticipated growth in businesses in the industry, there is a feeling that there will be greater competition, especially from solicitors and law firms
• Inherent to this would be pressure on pricing – with more competition in the market, companies will need to identify economies they can pass on to customers.
Greater Competition
“More competition from solicitor firms.”
“Larger law firms taking over trade mark work from smaller traditional
firms.”
“More competition between patent attorneys and solicitors for patent
drafting and prosecution work.”
“The industry needs to modernise its approach and become more
commerically orientated. Patent skills will become commoditised and the
traditional billing practices will become defunct.”
Pricing Pressures
“Downwards pressure on costs, especially as the UKIPO targets SMEs and
encourages small business to file their own trade marks. However, as the
country recovers economically, I think there will be more opportunities and
vacancies arising for trainees.”
What Does The Future Look
Like?
• Skills shortages in Electronics/Telecoms attorneys and Chemistry Attorneys was also a theme, with respondents sensing this will continue to be an issue in the future
• Other comments centred on the UPC opportunities, increased flexible and in-house working.