News Archive

During his undergraduate engineering studies, Ross Brown said he learned most people in the field focus on specific areas of technology. Engineering appealed to him because “I love learning about new sciences and technology,” he said. After taking three intellectual property courses for engineers that focused on drafting and prosecuting patents, Brown said he realized becoming a patent attorney would be the best career fit for him. “It would be the best route to continue my education for the rest of my life.”

Accustomed to a discipline in which there is only one right answer, Brown said law school was an adjustment. “I had to switch gears from finding the one right answer to an applied math problem to learning the answer to a legal issue can be both objective and subjective and depend on any number of factors,” he said.

The Brownsburg, Indiana, native talked to some local attorneys and decided to apply to IU McKinney for law school. “I was excited about the opportunities of going to school in a city where so many firms, along with big tech companies, were located and the opportunities that would inherently follow,” Brown said. “I’m also from the greater-Indianapolis area, so I already knew I loved being in Indianapolis.”

Brown said he has been amazed by the IU McKinney family who has been willing to help him along his career path. Students, faculty, and staff all “were willing to help me by spending extra time reviewing substantive issues, providing me with extracurricular activities to help build my resume, and introducing me to local IP professionals to boost my network,” he said.

The 3L who plans to graduate in May 2022 joined the Intellectual Property Student Association and Phi Delta Phi during his first year of law school. Brown served as IPSA president during his 2L year. He also has taken part in the Eli Lilly & Company externship and the Intellectual Property Law Clinic. Brown spent summer 2021 as an intern in the IP group at Eversheds-Sutherland in their Del Mar office.

After completing his legal education, Brown said he plans to take the California bar exam, take his bar trip to the tequila trail in Jalisco, Mexico, and return to Eversheds-Sutherland to begin working in their patent group.