Article One Partners Announces New Veterans Program

In December of 2012 Article One Partners announced that they would be launching an educational contest series geared towards military veterans with an interest in research, science and technology. The program, known as the Article One Partners Veterans Program or AOP-Vets for short will consist of three main pillars; an educational curriculum on patent research, a series of career guidance sessions from intellectual property executives, and an “exciting Grand Challenge” with the opportunity to win rewards for success on the research platform.  In fact, at the end of the program, which is set to begin on April 8, 2013 and will run through May 17, of 2013, the best-performing participant of the program will receive a $5,000 reward.

Given that I come from a family of military men, and came so close to signing up for the military myself, I hold the topic of veterans near and dear to my heart.  In fact when I heard about this program I was thrilled because I know that many veterans have been affected by this recession are out of work themselves.  I know a few veterans in particular who could benefit from a program such as this and feel that programs like this are the very least we should give veterans in return for the sacrifices they and their families make for our country.  But the best part about this program is that it affords veterans who wish to participate the opportunity to become trained in the area of intellectual property that should ultimately lead to additional career opportunities that otherwise they would not have qualified for.

Cheryl Milone, Founder and CEO, of Article One Partners had this to say:

AOP is devoted to supporting our veterans and is proud to launch a program aimed to give back to these heroes. Through the AOP Veterans Program we hope to provide our servicemen and women with an opportunity to learn about careers in the intellectual property industry, while acquiring skills in patent research through a series of competitive research projects.

Stage 1 – Education and Training

In order to prepare veterans for the task at hand, AOP will be providing free education and training on patent research through a series of weekly webinars to those veterans who choose to participate.  In addition, they will be provided with educational materials and an online curriculum which hopefully in combination with their existing skill set will prepare veterans to become more experienced researchers in the intellectual property industry.

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Stage 2 – Career Guidance from IP Executives

With the recession we are currently in, not only every day US citizens having a difficult time finding work in the current job market.  Upon returning to the workforce after their time served in our military, veterans are also feeling the affects of this challenging job market as well.  AOP wants to utilize this program to provide guidance to those veterans who are interested in expanding their knowledge and starting a new career within the intellectual property industry.  Through a series of interactive webinars, Veterans will get to hear from guest speakers about the opportunities before them in the IP world.

The speakers will include Cheryl Milone, CEO of Article One and others to help veterans learn how they can apply their existing military skills toward starting a new career in IP.  In fact, Cheryl’s topic of discuss will be just that, a discussion on “…how veterans are already geared toward success for the AOP outsourcing platform through their skills earned during the time in service.”

Stage 3 – The Grand Challenge

For this challenge, the veterans will be tackling a problem that is recognized as a societal problem that everyone wants to solve.  Veterans will have the opportunity to utilize the skills they already possess coupled with the training they receive as part of the program to participate in the Grand Challenge.

As part of AOP-Vets, veterans will be taught the ins and outs of prior art research and will gain research experience by engaging in a series of competitive research projects (or studies).  The goal of these studies is to help improve patent quality while offering veterans a chance to use their new research training through a hands-on approach.  Three participants in each of the Studies will be awarded $250 each.

And upon completion of the program in May, the best over-all performing AOP-Vets participant researcher will be rewarded a grand prize of $5,000.

If you are a veteran of the United States military, you are interested in research, science and technology and are available between April 8 and May 17, 2013, then please consider participating in this program.   To register visit the AOP-Vets information page. Click the “Join Our Community” button to sign up as a Researcher. Enter “Veterans” in the “Referred By” field of the online registration form.

Even if you are not a veteran yourself, if you know of a veteran(s) that could benefit from such a program, please pass this information along.  As someone who is now delving into the art of legal recruiting, I can tell you that there are more positions available in IP than in most other industries.  This is our opportunity to “Give Back” to those we trust and depend on for the safety and well being of our country and for those veterans in our families whom we love and respect.

The deadline for registration is on March 29, 2013.

To All Past & Present Men and Women of the US Military Armed Forces,

We at IPWatchdog.com support this program whole-heartedly and wanted to take a moment to thank all of our military veterans, past, present and future for all you do and sacrifice to keep our homeland safe.  May God bless each and every one of you and your families.  For those of you still serving abroad, we wish you a safe and expeditious return home.

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