Arnesh Vijay was working in research for Nokia when an interest in patents led him to take up a new role with the company and a new qualification at Bournemouth University (BU).
Arnesh said: “My research role had already given me a good idea of the work that went into generating ideas worth patenting. What I didn’t understand however was the process of filing for a patent, or the work involved in granting them or even prosecuting for misuse. This is something I wanted to know more about and I was fortunate to be able to switch roles to join Nokia’s patenting department.”
With a new role ahead, Arnesh set about finding a training programme which would enable him to become an intellectual property rights specialist. His search led him to the Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law at BU. Arnesh said: “Having looked online at the course content, mode of delivery and assessment approaches, Bournemouth stood out as one of the best. It offered a flexible, distance learning approach and I liked the fact that the course was run by BU’s Faculty of Media & Communication, which had such an excellent reputation.”
It was the first time that Arnesh had embarked on a distance learning programme, but he soon found a way to balance his full-time work with the course content and self-directed study. He said: “This was truly distance learning interspersed with a few onsite meetings. All the lecture materials, assignment briefings and related resources were available online which gave me easy and unlimited access. There was a balance of lectures from academics and from those working in industry, and I quickly gained an overview on other intellectual property topics such as trademarks, copyright and design laws. While these are not part of my day-to-day duties, I now feel more confident in discussing these areas with other professionals.”
Having graduated from the course in 2018, Arnesh is happy to recommend the mode of study to others. He said: “The course is well structured for full-time working professionals and the academic and support staff are understanding and flexible, which is something I really appreciated. Even though I didn’t spend much time on campus I met like-minded people and made some good friends.”
