Since he was a child, 2L Braden Brown planned to become an engineer. During the third year of his dual bachelor’s and master’s degree program in electrical engineering at the University of Utah, his advisors told him to specialize in a particular field within the major. Even after taking a broad range of classes, nothing seemed to stand out.
“Instead of finding one topic I was interested in, I ended up being interested in every course I took. It didn’t matter if it was quantum computing, digital logic design, or doing research with focused-ultrasound, I just wanted to keep learning more about the topic,” Brown recalls. “That year, I also married my wife, who was in her first year at the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Her experiences in law school caught my interest, and I completed a patent law internship for engineering students. The breadth of topics you learn about while drafting patent applications—instead of specializing in one niche topic within an engineering field—stood out to me. I’ve been interested in patent law ever since.”
Brown grew up in Utah for most of his life and wanted to stay close to his family and his wife’s family, so Utah Law’s location was appealing. However, the College of Law was also a top choice because of its small classes and student-to-faculty ratio.
“The best part about Utah Law has been the people. My classmates are all really nice and try to help each other out. Even though there is still some level of competition in everyone’s minds, I’ve never felt like anyone in my class was trying to show off or sabotage another classmate. It has been nice to know you can get help from just about anyone whenever you need it,” he says. “I also came to law school knowing I wanted to work during the semesters, and having firms with offices just a few minutes away from the school was a big draw.”
One of these firms, Lowenstein Sandler, offers Brown practical experience working with inventors and in-house counsel. He also participated in the seven-month Bench to Bedside program, part of Utah Law’s experiential education. During this annual competition, students across the state design medical innovations and Bench to Bedside fellows help these student teams draft provisional patent applications.
“Bench to Bedside allows law students to help give guidance to teams of engineering, medical, and business students, and it has helped me practice explaining patent law concepts and get experience drafting patent applications for some really cool ideas,” Brown says.
Connecting students and potential employers through SIPLA
In conjunction with his IP law goals, Brown is currently president of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association (SIPLA). He first became involved with SIPLA during his 1L year and enjoyed the networking opportunities it presented.
“SIPLA has been a great opportunity to talk with professors, patent attorneys, and other students. It has helped me learn a lot about the patent law firms in Salt Lake City and feel more informed as I think about potential employment and career options going forward,” he says.
Along with Vice President Ashley Fink and officers Alannah Trombetta, Matthew McGrath, and James Finn, Brown plans lunches, networking events, and information sessions with local attorneys and IP law professors to help students learn more about the field and allow firms to find candidates for field placements and positions.
“The networking is the best part of SIPLA. The low pressure, one-to-one interactions you can have with those attorneys after the lunches are super valuable to me,” James Finn explains. “I sent a lot of follow-up emails or had someone send me a follow-up just because I chatted with them after the lunch.”
For Fink, hearing from professors and alumni in the intellectual property field is also an important part of SIPLA.
“We host events where SIPLA members can engage with professors and fellow students who have experience in intellectual property and have taken the patent bar. These sessions provide a welcoming environment to ask questions and explore whether a career in IP aligns with their interests and career goals,” she says.
In fact, Matthew McGrath became interested in SIPLA during his 1L year when he talked to a student involved in the group during the student organization fair about the best parts of his summer job.
“He said that he was able to talk to inventors all day long and help them protect their intellectual property,” McGrath recalls. “I thought that sounded really cool, especially since I am a scientist by training. I came to law school do work in environmental and natural resources law, and I spent a lot of time working in science. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to understand life science technology while at the same time doing complicated and fun legal stuff. It’s a good way to combine two major interests I have.”
Fink majored in biology and planned to work in environmental law before joining SIPLA.
“Initially, I thought environmental law was the only way to combine my biology background and the law, but then I learned about IP law. I’m interested in IP litigation because it combines my legal education with my interest in science and technology,” she says.
Though many students who participate in SIPLA have a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) background, Brown wants others to know that this isn’t required.
“When most people hear intellectual property, they immediately think of patents or engineering or science, but there are many routes you can take in IP that don’t require those backgrounds. Even if you have an interest in STEM or no interest at all, there are aspects of this type of law that would be interesting to you,” he says.
McGrath agrees and says he likes asking IP attorneys and professors how they ended up in their current jobs.
“A lot of people take roundabout paths. They don’t expect everything to happen every step of the way,” he says. “As a law student, it’s good to know that I don’t have to have everything planned out right now. I can still end up in a good situation, even if I don’t necessarily intend to work in a certain field.”
Building confidence and a rewarding career
Leading SIPLA has allowed Brown to get out of his shell a bit and cultivate leadership skills.
“I didn’t really talk to another student my entire time as an undergraduate and usually try to keep to myself. Being president of SIPLA has helped me to talk to other people, delegate responsibilities, and get some really valuable networking time I wouldn’t get otherwise,” he says.
He is also proud of surviving law school despite unexpected challenges.
“I didn’t bomb my second semester finals as bad as I thought I would when my wife and I had our first child a month early. We lived in the hospital for a week right before finals,” he recalls. “I’ve had positive experiences with all my professors and have been pleasantly surprised at how quick and willing they are to show support or offer help.”
His time in the electrical engineering program has helped him realize he is also most passionate about the problem-solving aspect of law.
“Almost every case is about a client who had a problem and was looking for a solution. I like that as lawyers work as advocates, they are trying to find out how to best solve their client’s problems while remaining within the confines of the law. Having new problems to solve helps me keep trying to learn new things and ask new questions,” he says.
When Brown graduates in 2026, he hopes to continue building a career in IP law.
“I’ve always been really passionate about engineering, and I want to keep using that degree. The easiest way for me to do that is through patent prosecution, where I’m drafting patents, meeting with inventors, learning about their technologies, and helping them protect them,” he says. “I want to spend the rest of my career learning about new and cutting-edge technologies, and I think patent prosecution is one of the best routes to do that.”