Rinat Shangeeta, a second-year student at Rutgers School of Law–Newark, has received the Mark T. Banner Scholarship, which is awarded each year by the Richard Linn American Inn of Court to an aspiring intellectual property lawyer. The national scholarship, which is named in memory of a leader in the field of patent law, is part of the Court’s commitment to fostering the development of IP lawyers of high ethics, civility and professionalism, and especially those from diverse backgrounds.
Shangeeta also was the recipient this spring of a New Jersey Women Lawyers Association scholarship in recognition of her commitment and dedication to the law school and the practice of law.
Equal passions for IP law and for mentoring motivate Shangeeta. She first experienced the impact that a dedicated mentor can have as a 17-year-old immigrant to the United States from Bangladesh. A few years later, while working on web application development projects for Merrill Lynch as a new Rutgers University graduate, Shangeeta became fascinated by the laws that regulate application development.
Shangeeta graduated from Rutgers with highest honors in electrical and computer engineering. She dedicated significant time to mentoring international students and female classmates, who comprised only about 10 percent of students in the electrical and computer engineering program. As president of the Rutgers International Student Association, she fostered the sharing of diverse experiences on campus.
Among her proudest accomplishments was an internship at Microsoft during the summer after her junior year, the first Rutgers student selected for one of the coveted spots in several years.
While the Microsoft internship reinforced Shangeeta’s admiration for the creativity of technological innovators, the Merrill Lynch technology leadership development program sparked her curiosity about the laws that regulate application development on the technological frontier. “My interest in patent law was deepening as a result of my practical experience,” she explains.
Shangeeta came to realize that she wanted not only to develop new technologies but also to participate in their design and protection. “As a programmer,” she explains, “I could create new technologies, but as a patent lawyer, I can lead widespread institutional change to ensure that all inventors are incentivized to take the risks and spend the hours necessary to develop products that will positively reshape our lives.” After two years at Educational Testing Service, at which she gained skills at bridging the gap between technical and non-technical worlds, Shangeeta decided to leave an established career as an engineer and pursue a new career in intellectual property law.
At Rutgers School of Law–Newark, she is putting into action her passion for both mentoring and supporting innovation through the law. As president of the Intellectual Property Law Society, she developed a new mentoring program that has brought together 13 IP law students with volunteer mentors recruited from law firms and top entertainment industry companies.
Last summer Shangeeta served as a law clerk in the Philadelphia office of the IP firm Volpe and Koenig, P.C. Following this semester’s judicial internship for the Hon. Michael A. Shipp, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, she will work on patent and trademark prosecution and litigation matters as a summer associate at Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP.
Of the recent scholarship honors Shangeeta says: “As law students and busy professionals, it is hard for us to devote any time to extracurricular activities and we end up sacrificing our passions. For me, getting recognized partly for some of that work confirms it is indeed valued and makes me more confident and motivated to stay committed to my passion."