This summer, three rising seniors from the nationally ranked STEM school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology located in northern Virginia, are spending four weeks in our Tysons Corner office gaining real-world experience in the practice of law specific to patent procurement and post-grant proceedings. These students are motivated individuals who have strong academic backgrounds in the technical arts and hold leadership positions in their school and their communities.

The goal of the intern program is to provide the interns with a basic understanding of how companies and inventors are able to legally protect their inventions and protect themselves from their competitors in the commercial marketplace, and specifically, how a private practice law firm assists its clients in this regard. In this way, the program offers valuable and practical insight into the intersection of technology and the law, thus helping the students to make informed educational and career decisions.

The focus of the internship is educational in nature. The interns will receive training and assignments designed to reflect what life is like in this specialized area of law. Their experience will include becoming familiar with the structure, policies, and procedures of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and learning firm systems and processes that aid in representing clients. Each intern will be paired with an associate attorney mentor to enrich their educational process and experiences during their internship.

Jones Robb is pleased to continue the fourth year of this exciting summer intern program and is grateful for its collaboration with the Thomas Jefferson High School in making the program possible. The firm values its interns and appreciates their contributions, and strives to make the internship a beneficial program that complements the education they are receiving in school and through their other activities.