James French (Management of Intellectual Property MSc, 2026)
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background/family?
I grew up in Northeast London and have lived there my whole life. I've always had a strong interest in electronics and engineering, my parents both started their careers as programmers in the IT sector, which initially set me on a similar path. That led me to study Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of Nottingham, but by the time I graduated I'd realised I didn't want a traditional engineering career. I wanted something adjacent to the field instead.
After graduating I spent a year teaching engineering-related subjects at an independent school in Essex, partly to explore my options. It was during that time I became increasingly certain I wanted to become a Patent Attorney, a direction I'd first heard about through a friend of a friend who is a Patent Attorney and Partner. That's what ultimately brought me to Queen Mary.
What do you study and how is your course going?
I'm studying the MSc in Management of Intellectual Property, and the year has gone really quickly. It's been a lot more challenging than I expected, but also really rewarding. I feel like I've done my best, and I've done pretty well in my exams so far, with a few more still to go. We have a small cohort, only eight of us in the lectures, which is something I've really enjoyed. I've never been in a setting before where the lecturers actually know my name.
The course is incredibly broad. I came into it primarily for Patent Law, but I've since developed a real interest in trademarks. Design law has caught my attention too, as it sits quite close to Patent Law and is something I could see myself working on as well. What's been most rewarding is that I can now speak confidently about IP law as a whole, which is a nice feeling, and that's really down to the quality of the teaching.
The transition from engineering to law was something I genuinely worried about before starting the course The last time I'd written an essay was for my GCSEs at sixteen, so it was a real concern. I actually raised it with a course representative before enrolling, and they reassured me there were elective modules available to help. That's one of the areas where the scholarship made a real difference, having the time to take those extra modules. I took the critical thinking and legal writing elective, which ran one session a week, and it gave me a much clearer sense of what was expected and how to structure my thinking. It definitely gave me more confidence going into the exams.
Why did you choose Queen Mary - CCLS and London?
After completing my undergraduate degree, I did attempt to apply for patent attorney grad / training roles in the years prior, but it was pretty demoralising. I had straight rejections with no interviews at all. Even so, I was set on the career path and kept trying. Eventually I was put in contact with a partner at one of the leading IP firms, who recommended this course at Queen Mary. He said it was well regarded and that the firm had taken on a number of people who had done the MSc at CCLS in the past.
For me, part of the attraction was also about standing out during the hiring process, being differentiated from the wider pool of applicants. The other big draw was that the course is accredited by IPReg, which exempts graduates from the foundation exams. That is a significant appeal for employers, and something that genuinely strengthens your position when applying for trainee roles.
How were things before you received the funding?
Before I received the funding, finances were the biggest point of uncertainty for me. I was weighing up whether to continue teaching or to come back into education, because a Master's degree is a lot of money. I would have had to take out the Master's loan, and I had saved a little from my job to bridge the gap between the loan and the tuition fees, but not much beyond that. My backup plan, prior to receiving the scholarship, was to work at least two days a week to support myself. I live in zone 6 in Northeast London, so the train alone is around ten pounds a day to get to CCLS, which adds up quickly when you are in full-time education. The tuition was covered, but everything else was a real concern.
So, when I found out I had got the scholarship, it was such a relief. I was genuinely grateful, because of the day-to-day financial pressure it removed, but because it meant I no longer needed to take out the Master's loan either, which would have added another twelve thousand pounds on top of my undergraduate loan.
The practical impact has been significant. Not having to work those two extra days a week meant I could take the additional modules I mentioned earlier, which really did help with my essay writing. It also meant I could take on a place in the qLegal scheme, where I spend one day a week as a legal extern at a startup company. That is something I simply would not have been able to commit to if I had been working to support myself at the same time. It has given me some great experience, helped develop my commercial awareness, and offered a real taste of what it is like to work as a lawyer in practice.
Do you think financial worries weigh heavily on students?
I think it is a massive part of the decision for a lot of people. For me personally, it was the only reason I had against coming back into education this year. I can really only speak for domestic students, though I know international students face their own set of pressures, and there are a few on my course whose situations I cannot begin to imagine.
For domestic students, I think the biggest worry is the debt itself. There is something quite daunting about taking on that level of financial commitment without really knowing what it is going to look like in a few years' time. It is a bit of an unknown, and that uncertainty weighs on you.
What are your plans for the future?
I am really glad I took this course, and I do think it made a real difference to my chances of securing a role in patent law, because I have actually been successful and will be starting at an IP firm in September. During my assessment day, the recognition when I mentioned Queen Mary was immediate, and I think having the MSc on my CV really helped differentiate me in the selection process. Many trainee patent attorneys come to CCLS to do their certificate course, so a lot of the people running the application process had been through it themselves and knew exactly what the qualification represented. Beyond that, the skills and knowledge I developed over the course of the year meant I could hold my own once I was in the room. I am really grateful for the scholarship and the opportunity it gave me to do this course, without it, I am not sure I would have been in a position to be there at all.
What are your inspirations for the future and what difference do you think you can make to this industry in the future?
When I first started looking for patent roles, before doing this course, I understood what the job involved but not much beyond that. What changed was the teaching. The course is delivered by practising patent attorneys and IP lawyers, and they genuinely inspired me to develop a more intellectual interest in the law itself. The conversations they had, critically engaging with decisions or questioning aspects of current law and how they would like to see it develop, were something I found really compelling, and a lot of it resonated with me.
So, I think the main impact of the course has been to drive that intellectual curiosity and, in a way, to give me a sense that I would like to have my own contribution to make. Whether that is through my work as a Patent Attorney, or through some other avenue further down the line, I am not sure yet. But that desire to engage with the law beyond just practising it is something this course has instilled in me, and I do not think I would have felt that way without it.
What would you like to say to those that donated to provide these awards?
I would like to express my genuine gratitude for their generosity, which has really changed the course of this year for me, entirely for the better. Being able to focus on the degree without the financial pressures I had anticipated made a real difference, and I think that focus is a significant part of why I have been able to secure the role I am starting in September. I am honestly not sure I would have got to where I am now if I had needed to split my time the way I had originally planned. In that sense, it has genuinely changed my trajectory, and I am incredibly grateful. I hope it is reassuring to know that their contribution does make a tangible difference to scholarship students, and it certainly has to me.
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