Introduction

For this financial year 2021-22, would you like to be working in the US or Europe? Who wouldn’t want to live and work in a better environment? It is a dream many Indian law students and lawyers possess. 

However, what is the reality? If you want to live and work abroad, you need to figure out the visas, the expenses on the education abroad, stay, travel and also figure out how to develop a network to be able to secure a job in order to stay there.

How fantastic would it be if you were simply able to teleport to your dream working destination? The capability of being anywhere with the touch of a button would solve so many problems. 

Well, you can’t teleport, but you can do something that comes quite close.

Think of what happened in 2020. 

Weren’t you present in courts, classrooms and in other meetings while sitting in your homes? So then, if you are able to be present in a court at a different place in India, what stops you from being present in an office in the US or Europe? The importance of being physically present in order to work is diminishing rapidly. 

Okay, so there is no necessity to be physically present. But here’s another question that you may have: Why would a law firm or a startup in the US hire you? Wouldn’t they be better off hiring people who are right there?

No they wouldn’t. 

That is because they can hire good talent from India for money which they would have to shell out even for people who do basic administrative work in the US because of the minimum wage requirements and prevalent industry standards.

Different US states have different minimum wages ranging from USD7.25 to USD15. However, if you look at the legal industry, the average rate for paralegal work per hour is USD15. And this would be applicable even for freshers.

Imagine what this would translate into for Indian lawyers - even qualified lawyers with 2-3 years of experience. Working at USD15 per hour, if someone works 200 hours per month, they can make USD3000 i.e. approximately INR 2,20,000 per month, which is higher than what most big law firms in India pay. And they hire only top talent.

The maths seems good, but what about the licenses, permissions? Well, paralegals aren’t qualified lawyers. If they were qualified, they would be earning far more than USD15 per hour. Now if they are not even qualified, there is no question of having a license to practise in the US. There is therefore no barrier as to who is doing the paralegal work. 

For instance, if a shop owner in Chicago wishes to commission an artist to paint the front wall of his shop, he would have to enter into a work for hire agreement with the artist so that the shop owner can exercise the copyright over the artwork created. He does not need an attorney registered in the US to draft this agreement for him. Anyone, having an understanding of such an agreement can do this. 

The scope of providing paralegal services for someone providing intellectual property related services is even wider because of the fact that IP laws remain majorly the same across jurisdictions owing to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. The WTO member countries are the signatories to this Agreement as well as numerous World Intellectual Property Organization treaties which have ensured that IP laws do not drastically differ across its member states. 

There are multiple freelancing platforms such as Freelancer.com, Guru.com, SEOClerks.com, Fiverr, People per Hour and UpWork where such entrepreneurs, startups, small business owners, artists, seller and resellers, smaller law firms etc. trying to find solutions for their IP related issues look for paralegals who can help them out without charging fees as high as a paralegal or an attorney in their own country would. 

This is a golden opportunity for Indian lawyers/students as the space is still relatively untapped. This is just the right time to venture into the IP freelancing domain before it becomes too saturated, which is highly likely to happen very soon considering the potential it holds. 

In addition to enabling you to earn a decent income, this also helps you build a track record of work which will be relevant and recognised in the event that you are looking to take on a masters degree and actually work in the US.

Why did we launch this course?

As we can see, there is an amazing opportunity for professionals as well as students to capitalize upon as well as to gain substantial international exposure in intellectual property paralegal work without having to leave their desks at their own homes.  
However, the only pre-condition is that you must know the work. You must know it as well as someone present in the US would know. 

We did a thorough research on the kind of work being offered to IP paralegals as well as the kind of work that could be offered to foreign nationals without being physically present in their country or requiring them to be registered with the country’s bar counsel and handpicked the skills required not only for meeting the above requirement but the ones which are sure to yield high revenues as well.

We realised that there was a necessity to teach these skills as well as provide structured guidance on how students can showcase these skills on various freelancing platforms, their own social media etc. and the required outreach in order to be able to get this work. 

Who should take this course?

• Intellectual property lawyers looking to gain international exposure
• Law students looking to gain experience in IP laws
• Law graduates looking to build a freelancing career 
• Law students looking to earn enough income to invest in themselves
• Working professionals looking to get a lucrative side income
• Litigators looking to move to the domain of Intellectual Property
• Students/graduates who wish to learn about the IP prosecution stages of the US as well as the UK and get a deep understanding of some of the indispensable IP and tech related contracts. 

What will you learn from this course?

• You will learn the required skills to be able to successfully handle US IP paralegal work from India. 
• You shall learn to undertake pre-registration work with respect to trademarks in the US as well as the UK such as conducting classification searches for your client’s goods/services as well as conducting availability and conflict searches for your client's trademark on the WIPO global brand database, USPTO search portal as well as UKIPO search portal;
• You shall be learning about the trademark prosecution procedures in the US as well as the UK which will not only enable you to advise your client regarding the appropriate action to be taken but will also make you capable of drafting notices of oppositions as well as replies to the same according to the laws of the aforementioned countries;
• You shall be able to help US tech startups and small businesses in protecting their IP by drafting non-disclosure agreements and employee agreements which would ensure that the ownership of the IP remains with them and that it is not infringed;
• You will be able to draft comprehensive US law compliant IP agreements such as music licensing agreements, franchise agreements, work for hire agreements and trademark licensing agreements;
• In addition to IP agreements, the course shall also teach you how to draft some very important technology law related agreements such as technology transfer agreements, technology licensing agreements,  privacy policies, cookie policies, etc. 
• You will learn how to draft takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as well as how to deal with domain name infringement and cybersquatting through the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy of WIPO, which is a frequently allotted assignment on freelancing platforms. 
• You will be learning about pre-litigation mechanisms in cases of IP infringement such as client advisory and drafting cease and desist notices for patent, copyright and trademark infringement and replies to the same; 
• You shall be acquiring skills that would enable you to take up some lucrative patent related work such as making applications before the USPTO, conducting USPTO issued patent proofreading, drafting invention disclosure forms and calculating patent term adjustments. 

Who will be your potential clients

• US tech startups looking to protect and monetize upon their intellectual property;
• Artists including singers, actors, painters, sculptors, etc. looking to enforce their intellectual property rights and to get into legally binding arrangements with third parties taking their services; 
• Small business owners in the US looking for advisory services pertaining to their IP; 
• Content creators with an online presence looking to curb online infringement of their content; 
• Website owners facing domain name infringement disputes, or looking to create privacy policies or cookie policies for their websites;
• Tech companies looking to license in or license out a technology or looking to execute non disclosure agreements or inventions agreements; 
• Sellers or resellers conducting their businesses on E-commerce platforms; 
• Musicians or owners of media companies looking to license in or license out their content
• US tech law firms which are small or medium sized, looking to build their capacity at lower cost by outsourcing paralegal work

What is unique about this course?

• This course aims to impart specific paralegal skills to students as well as to law graduates and working professionals which would enable them to take on IP related work available on the internet and will instill in them the required confidence to generate a global clientele over the internet. 
• Apart from introducing you to IP laws in the US and teaching you specific paralegal work, we aim to guide you in developing your online presence as an IP paralegal through various freelancing platforms as well as through the sources such as Linked In, Facebook, etc. You shall be given access to various video lectures on navigating freelancing platforms such as Fiverr, People per Hour and UpWork. Additionally, live online classes would be conducted by some of the well established IP paralegals from India providing their services to global clients  who would share their insights on the dos and don'ts of freelancing. They will also provide you with a step by step guide towards creating and maintaining your online presence. 
• By the end of this course, you can expect to have secured enough skills to be able to take up paralegal work assignments from small and medium sized companies in the US as well as law firms in the US looking to outsource work.
• The course is tough and intensive, you will not be awarded the certificate unless you complete the required number of assignments. You will have to invest 4-5 hours per week in developing your skills, in addition to the classes on this course.
• You will have interactive classes with high-quality discussions which will be taken by the experts of this course. You can get all the doubts resolved in the classes or even outside the classes through course groups and email.
• You will get personal attention and coaching from our trainers who will be assigned to you, and have access to a dedicated course anchor who will help you with submissions or any guidance or issues you may have as you progress through the course.
• You will receive in-line feedback for the assignments you submit, which will improve your performance to a significant extent. 
• You will have access to other doubt clearing mechanisms also, in addition to the online classes such as a discussion forum where queries are responded to within a period of 48 hours, a WhatsApp group that will include your peers and batchmates as well as the course anchor, evaluator and support team from LawSikho. 
• You will be trained in writing for three writing assignments during the term of the course and if these are of publishable quality, these shall be published on the iPleaders blog which sees a footfall of more than a million visitors a month.

Specific learning objectives

• Get an overview of the US legal system which will enable you to understand how and where your clients stand and what kind of laws they will be subject to; 
• US and UK Trademark law, US Copyright law as well as Patent law;
• Learn about the International classification of trademarks through the NICE Classification;
• Learn about the grounds of refusal of trademarks in the US and UK and the trademark prosecution processes and mechanisms in these countries;
• Learn about the US Copyright law with special reference to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which lays down the takedown mechanisms of infringing content, intermediary liability and the safe harbour provisions for these intermediaries;
• Learn about the functioning of the Arbitration and Mediation centre of the World Intellectual Property Organization;
• Learn about acts constituting domain name infringement such as cybersquatting, domain name hijacking, reverse domain name hijacking as well as about the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy of the The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers;
• Learn how to draft an effective cease and desist notice cautioning the infringer against IP infringement;
• Learn about the online privacy legislation in the US and the essentials of US compliant privacy policies and cookie policies;
• Learn about the various facets involved in a transfer of technology and the essentials of a transaction for transfer of a technology;
• Learn about the principles governing copyrightability as well as the various means of monetization of a copyrightable work; 
• Learn about some of the important copyright related agreements such as copyright licensing agreements, work for hire agreements, music synchronization as well as music adaptation agreements;
• Learn about the patent filing as well as prosecution processes in the United States;
• Learn about some of the USPTO issued patent related processes such as patent proofreading, notice of allowance review, invention disclosure statement and patent term assessment; 
• Learn about the various important things to be factored in while licensing a patented invention. 
• Learn how to conduct a trademark classification search according to the international NICE classification;
• Learn how to conduct a trademark availability/conflict search on the WIPO global brand database, the USPTO and the UKIPO databases for wordmarks as well as device marks; 
• Learn how to formulate a search report on the basis of the trademark search conducted and advice the client accordingly; 
• Learn how to draft a USPTO compliant notice of trademark opposition; 
• Learn how to draft a USPTO compliant counter statement; 
• Learn how to draft a UKIPO compliant notice of trademark opposition; 
• Learn how to draft a UKIPO complaint reply to the notice of opposition; 
• Learn the steps to be taken when someone publishes a material online which infringes your copyright; 
• Learn how to draft and send a DMCA notice to a user generated content platform located in the US; 
• Learn how to draft a counter notice in response to a DMCA takedown notice; 
• Learn how to identify the reliefs available in a domain name dispute and to strategize how to choose between them; 
• Learn how to draft a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy; 
• Learn how to draft a reply for a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy; 
• Learn how to draft a reply to a cease and desist notice alleging IP infringement; 
• Learn how to draft a privacy policy for a website adequately dealing with the requirements under US data protection laws; 
• Learn how to draft a cookie policy for a website; 
• Learn how to draft a work for hire agreement to hire someone for specific project-based work; 
• Learn how to draft an inventor’s agreement between an employer and an employee for the development of a patentable invention. 
• Learn how to draft a franchise agreement 
• Learn how to draft a merchandise agreement

What kind of assignments will you get?

• A US national wishes to start the business of manufacturing and selling high quality toys. He wants to open various outlets across the US which will not only sell toys but will also serve confectionaries such as cake pops, donuts and beverages such as hot chocolates. He has come up with the name ‘Toys-R-Us’ for his business and wants to register the trademark for the same. You are required to conduct the classification search for him according to the Nice classification. 
• The above mentioned manufacturer also wishes to know if going for the name ‘Toys-R-Us’ might impose a threat of rejection from the USPTO or might face an opposition. Consequently, conduct an availability search for the word as well as the logo he intends to use. Thereafter help him file the trademark application at the USPTO portal. 
• The owner of a sportswear brand which uses the slogan ‘Just Become It’  which is a registered trademark has come across an application for the mark ‘Just get it’ to be registered under the same class as her mark. Advice her and draft a notice of opposition against the Applicant. Additionally, help her file the opposition online at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US. 
• One of the four directors of a company registered in the UK, without the consent of the other directors, filed a trademark application for the logo of the company with the intention to use the trademark for his personal benefit. The other directors came to know about this when the Application was published. Advice the directors regarding the action to be taken against the applicant in accordance with the remedies available to them under the laws of the UK. 
• In continuation with the above mentioned situation, draft the relevant document(s) and help the directors file the same at the correct forum on the internet. 
• A graphic illustrator who applies the classic design principles of color, form, shapes, and layouts to organize and showcase original artwork has a page on Instagram where she posts her work. People interested in buying her prints directly message her and she sends the prints to their address. she recently came across this website called Printstock.com, which is a user generated content platform, and was shocked to see that someone had made her illustrations available on the website for sale. Advice the illustrator regarding the steps to be taken. Help her draft the relevant complaint under the relevant laws of the US. 
• According to the above scenario, what steps should be taken if instead of the graphic designer, the person uploading her artwork on Printstock.com has approached you with proof that the graphic designer had given the uploader prior consent to upload the content? What steps will you take to ensure that the content removed is reinstated? 
• A businessman in the US owns and operates an e-commerce platform for dairy goods and other groceries under the domain name ‘freshfirst.in’. It is well-known and respected in the market for its product quality. Another company called Fresh Edibles Pvt. Ltd. has registered its e-commerce platform selling similar goods as your client under the domain name ‘freshfest.in’. Your client has received communication from several customers complaining about the quality of confectionery delivered by freshfest.in, since they believe it to be affiliated to your client. What is the appropriate forum in which you would advise him to initiate a dispute? Additionally what are the other remedies that you would advise him to seek against the infringer? Draft the relevant document(s) for the businessman. 
• There is an entrepreneur located in Saudi Arabia who registered the domain name ‘magnum.co’ for starting his advertising business. Due to insufficiency of funds, he was not able to start the business and thus, put the domain name on sale. A car manufacturer called ‘Magnum’, located in the US filed a complaint against the entrepreneur in accordance with the domain name dispute resolution policy of the WIPO. He has approached you for advice regarding the same as well as the further steps to be taken. Do the needful. 
• ‘Aaron Says Fitness’ is a  website operating in the US that utilises information submitted by its users to create personalised fitness training regimens for them. They also sell fitness training equipment through its platform. It requires the submission of basic information such as name, age, biological sex, email address, physical address, and payment information for the creation of an account to use the website’s services. Further information such as height and weight of the user, favourite foods etc. is required to be submitted to accurately ascertain the fitness needs of the user and provide a suitable fitness regimen to them. The website also has an option to connect third-party social media accounts of the user to avoid manual filling of information and to allow users to easily share their progress with their friends. Draft a privacy policy as well as a cookie policy for the website in compliance with the data protection laws of the US.
• A software has been invented by a software company which allows medical professionals to share anonymized patient records with other professionals so that they can fill any gaps which may be preventing the best possible treatment of the patients and which uses artificial intelligence to analyze all available patient data to provide a probable diagnosis. A healthcare solution company wants to use the said technology in their system hardware and thus have approached the software company for the same. Draft a technology transfer agreement between the companies. 
•  A game developer who is an employee of a video gaming company is working on the development of a strap-on device through which the gamer will be able to play the game as a player by being able to mirror his movements. The idea for the said device originated during the course of employment. The company wishes to enter into an agreement with the developer to insure that the rights in the device being developed lie with the company. Advice the company and draft an agreement for the said purpose. 

Training Methodology

Online 24/7 access

Access to basic study material through online learning management system, Android and iOS app. Recordings of all classroom sessions will be available.

Hard Copy Study Material

Hard copy study material modules to be couriered to your address in India.

Practical Exercises

2 practical exercises every week, followed by written feedback

Live Online Classes to Teach Paralegal Assignments Specific Work

There will be a live video-based online class to teach you specific US intellectual property work performed by paralegals. You can ask questions, share your screen, get personal feedback in this class. Every week there will be approx. 1-1.5 hours of class to teach you the work and give you feedback. There will be recordings available in case you miss a class.

Convenient Class timings

Classes are held after regular work hours. Typically classes are kept on Sundays or 8-9 pm on other days.

Live Doubt Clearing

You can ask questions in class, or on the learning management system when you read a chapter. You can also schedule a one-on-one session with evaluators to perform exercises or write articles.

Money back guarantee

If you take this course, follow it diligently for a month, attend all classes and do all the exercises but still do not find value in it, or are not able to understand or follow it or not find it good for any reason, we will refund the entire course fee to you. It is a 100% money back guarantee with only one condition, you must pursue it properly for a month. If you don’t find it valuable after that, get your entire money back.

View Refund Policy

Client Opportunities & Recruitment Support where required

Many employers, law firms and companies are happy to recruit our high performing students. If you do well in your exercises and classes, we can help you to get jobs, internships and assessment internships in good law firms, with renowned lawyers as well as in various companies.

Our team helps our students in building their profile on LinkedIn and freelancing platforms to increase their reach to the potential recruiters or clients.

Our experts guide the students on how to crack any interview.

On-demand, we provide mock interviews for our students looking for jobs.

We share multiple internship/recruitment opportunities every week on our Whatsapp group.

We help our students to get internships not only at law firms and chambers, but also with rising startups in diverse sectors.

Our mentorship helps students to avoid running in the rat race behind the regular job openings; rather we help them design their own path based on their personal interests.

We share multiple and diverse client opportunities with our pool of practicing advocates on a daily basis. Our references have helped several advocates really scale up their practice. The opportunities range from contract drafting to complex international taxation matters.