A Day In The Life Of A Trade Marks Attorney
Owner of Mark My Words Trademark Services, Jacqui Pryor, manages to balance her busy professional and private life with equal dedication, passion, commitment, focus and hard work – so it’s no wonder she’s known in the industry as an expert trade marks attorney in Australia and as superwoman at home!
Here’s a glimpse into a day in her life…
My morning starts around 6.30am with a cup of coffee (one of life’s absolute necessities!) and my cat on my lap for some quiet time to plan the day ahead. My partner, a secondary school teacher, is also up and about around that time – unlike my 11 year-old daughter who is a typical ‘tween’ and requires a little more encouragement to get out of bed and prepare for the school day!
By careful design, my daughter’s school is across the road from my office, so getting down to business after drop-off is ultra convenient.
Trade mark law is a dynamic and complex field of law, which means my work is very varied. But while no two days are ever the same and the structure of my day is often dictated by deadlines, I always aim to spend the first hour in the office responding to emails. This can include advising clients on trade mark matters, providing information to prospective clients and handling correspondence from parties involved in a dispute or opposition.
As I typically answer around 40 new emails each morning, it can sometimes take a lot longer than an hour to get through all the correspondence. Luckily, I am blessed with an amazing support team and they take care of the administrative side of things like ensuring emails are correctly saved, accurate file notes stored etc, so I don’t have to spend time on that very often.
My day will also usually involve doing trade mark searches, preparing and filing trade mark applications in Australia and overseas, preparing evidence relating to trade mark matters such as responding to adverse reports and drafting letters. These include ‘Cease and Desist’ letters and responding to letters that our clients have received.
Trade mark searches can also often take up quite a big chunk of my day.
MMW Trademark Services offers these for free and because a search is the foundation of just about every trade mark matter, it’s a very busy area of activity for our business. I also often spend a lot of time in the day preparing evidence relating to trade mark matters such as adverse reports and trade mark oppositions – but I always prioritise my day according to what needs to be done and by when.
We pride ourselves on our quick response time which is why I don’t allocate time for any specific task. I like to have the flexibility to react quicky when a new enquiry or request comes in or when deadlines have to be met.
In my view, our ability to turn things around quickly and our rapid response times is what sets MMW Trademark Services apart from others in the industry (but don’t just take our word for it, read our reviews here). We’re small enough to be nimble, but we have vast experience and trade mark expertise, so we’re able to service clients of all sizes from all areas of business.
As I mentioned, deadlines play a huge role in how my day plays out, so whilst I always pick up my daughter from school in the afternoon (and feel truly blessed I am able to do that), there are times when extended working hours once home from school pick up are necessary in order to get the job done!
The 17th of July 2024 was a recent example of this. A client had a deadline in an opposition matter and we were still collecting information and data to finalise the evidence well after the office had closed. Luckily, the trade marks office doesn’t have the same cut-off times as the Federal Court so we were able to meet the deadlines – and equally luckily, the proximity of our office to my daughter’s school and our home means that we can also always make family time a priority.
I cherish the time I have with my daughter after school, having a snack together and chatting about the day. Drama is one of her favourite extramural activities and because her drama school is only two doors down from my office (by careful design, not coincidence!), I’m able to use this extra time on business admin such as invoicing, filing and cleaning.
Once we are home and settled into the homework routine, I typically spend another hour or so on my laptop. This gives me another opportunity to respond to emails, prepare reports etc, before closing off by around 5 or 6pm (most days anyway!).
A few evenings a week, I catch up on networking groups and business groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and similar forums. I really enjoy this aspect of ‘work’ as it gives me the opportunity to provide answers or feedback on trade mark-related posts or questions in a more informal environment. It’s also interesting to read what my peers have to say and a great way to learn and expand my expertise.
I generally try and reserve Friday afternoons for things that are trade mark-related, but which don’t require the intense concentration of client-facing work. For example, I often spend a Friday afternoon reviewing blogs and articles which I outsource from the copywriters at our SEO agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing as well as writing my own content to share on our LinkedIn and social media pages. It’s a good way to wrap up the week and wind down for the weekend.
I purposely don’t have emails on my phone, so my weekends are for family, friends, fun and recharging the batteries. That said, the trade mark world is deadline driven and extensions are not often possible so you will find me at my computer on rare occasions over the weekend, getting the job done!
My days may be busy, but I will always make time for clients and prospective clients, so you’re welcome to contact me on 03 8288 1432 or get in touch via the website. I look forward to hearing from you!
