Pan-European Seal: Professional IP Traineeship Program

EPO Traineeships

The University of Vienna is a member of the Pan-European Seal Professional IP Traineeship Program.

The Pan-European Seal Professional IP Traineeship Program (the Pan-European Seal) is a comprehensive IP program, which forms a bridge between academia and the IP labor market.

Jointly promoted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), two of the world's largest IP offices, this program targets leading European universities as strategic partners and offers up to 100 paid traineeships every year, which start in mid-September and are 12 months long. The training takes place at the headquarters of EUIPO (Alicante, Spain) and EPO (Munich, Germany) or at another EPO site such as The Hague, Vienna, Berlin, or Brussels.

High-achieving young university graduates have the opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job professional work experience in the multicultural environments of the EUIPO and the EPO. The Pan-European Seal Program provides a framework for early talent detection through these traineeships at the EUIPO and EPO.

Highlights

  • First employment experience
  • 12-month program with the possibility of an extension for up to three years, based on merits and performance
  • Salary: ca. EUR 2300 net monthly in the first year, rising to ca. EUR 3300 net monthly in the second and third year
  • Coverage by EPO social security scheme (including private health insurance)
  • Opportunities for secondment after Year 1
  • Possibility of partial teleworking scheme

Application requirements

All candidates must fulfill the following application requirements:

(a) Applications are open to students, who graduated or will graduate from one of the University of Vienna's Master, PhD, or Postgraduate Programs in the current academic year, i.e. in the period from October 1 to September 30. Applications are also open to students, who graduated or will graduate from the LLM Program in European and International Business Law in the current academic year (i.e. in the period from October 1 to September 30). Therefore, also students, who will obtain their LLM degree until September 30, are eligible to apply as well. Such students must be aware that any traineeship offered by the EPO will be conditioned to the submission of the LLM degree certificate (it can be a provisional certificate) upon arrival at the EPO by mid-September.

(b) All candidates must also have a diploma of completed university studies at bachelor's level.

(c) Nationality: Candidates must have the nationality of an EPO Member State.

(d) All candidates must have excellent knowledge of one of the EPO's official languages (English, French, German).

Application documents:

(a) CV in English in Europass Word format.

(b) Motivation letter in English, clearly indicating the choice of traineeship location (EUIPO or EPO), including the preferred EPO business area (law, international relations & communication, business administration, economics & finance, science & engineering).

(c) Undergraduate university degree certificate (or its equivalent).

(d) Bachelor and other degree certificates, including the LLM degree certificate. Students, who plan to complete the LLM program until September 30, must submit a declaration of the University of Vienna, which states that it is very likely that the student will complete the LLM program until September 30.

Selection procedure

February 16 - March 9, 2026: vacancies open for candidates on the Pan-European Seal Programme section of the EPO Traineeship website

March 16-23: Universities confirm/comment on list of candidates

June: Communication of results to candidates.

June-September: Selected candidates are required to complete the following EPO e-learning courses until the start of the traineeship:

Mid-September: Start of the traineeship at EPO

All selected candidates must provide the original LLM degree certificate of the University of Vienna to the EPO Traineeship Unit on their first day at the EPO.