This is a great opportunity to gain experience in patent applications and acquisitions, and to deepen your understanding of intellectual property work. I, personally, found it interesting to think about how to capture the essence of an invention in words by carefully paying attention to each individual word. That is actually where I started to feel more attracted to a career in intellectual property. Thanks to the attentive support of the employees, you can feel at ease even if you lack certain knowledge, and there are many opportunities to ask questions throughout the internship, so it is easy to get an idea of what it would be like to actually work there.

During the internship, I learned about technology acquisition. I was studying Science and Engineering in university, and I had an interest in patents but had never studied them. However, through the lectures, I was able to learn basic concepts such as "what is a patent" and "why is it important." In addition, I was able to gain practical experience in how to obtain a patent through exercises based on actual past cases. I also had many opportunities to interact with senior employees with varying degrees of experience, which provided me with the opportunity work in an environment that I could not have experienced at a corporate information session, making my time very meaningful.

I majored in chemistry and had no knowledge of intellectual property at all, but everyone took the time to teach me, and I was able to learn how interesting intellectual property work is. The NEC Intellectual Property Management Division has a unique appeal because it provides an opportunity to work in wide range of business areas and be involved with various different intellectual property-related work, as well as the opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of projects throughout the year. During my job search, I also considered a research position, but I was attracted by the thoughtful guidance I received from everyone during my internship and the broad range of work involved, and eventually I decided to join NEC.

This internship allowed me to experience the actual legal work involved in intellectual property. I was studying law, but I was able to experience practical content that I did not have much exposure to at university, such as how to read contracts, case studies of intellectual property licensing negotiations, and lectures on litigation and various business operations, which gave me a clear understanding of the scope of intellectual property legal work. Another advantage of the program was that I had the opportunity to talk with many employees in the Intellectual Property Management Division , which gave me a good sense of the workplace atmosphere.

I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in intellectual property, especially patents. Specifically, I was able to deepen my knowledge not only of what I was already studying at university, but I also gained the awareness that one must have when dealing with intellectual property in business. On top of that, I was able to see how what I wanted to do overlapped with the company's policies, which was extremely helpful in my job search. Over the course of the week, I felt that the people there were very kind and that it was a work environment where I could be myself.

In addition to classroom learning, the course also included many case study exercises which allowed participants to consider cases while witnessing the actual work associated with them, such as whether it is appropriate to immediately exercise patent rights when taking into account the relationship with the other party. There were also ample opportunities for me to hear about the work of senior employees, which was very helpful in considering my future career. This internship allowed me to see the expectations the company has of the licensing department which generates profits through intellectual property, and that made me even more interested in intellectual property licensing work.