INTERVIEW

How did you learn about the Patent Attorney profession and what inspired you to become a (European) Patent Attorney?

I was not aware of the profession until I actually started being actively involved in it. After graduating and while considering my career options, I took part in several interviews and in the end choose the role of a ‘junior patent specialist’ in the pharmaceutical industry. For a chemistry graduate, focusing primarily on the chemical industry and specialty chemicals, it seemed as an interesting opportunity to combine my gained scientific background and learn something new as well. Initially, I thought that I would only gain a few years of work-related experience and then perhaps move on to a different role, but after those few years in the role, l started to feel that this is the right place for me and moved on to qualifying as a national Patent Attorney and even further.

Most people know that Patent Attorneys help clients obtain a patent. However, what other tasks are you responsible for? 

When working as an in-house counsel, protecting the company generated IP (i.e. filing patent applications and obtaining patents, as most people would understand it) is usually not the only task you are responsible for. Other important tasks include ensuring that the developed products, your company intends to put on the market, are not within the scope of valid 3rd party IP rights, which is also connected with evaluating validity of those rights and even contentious work (i.e. invalidating and opposing such invalid IP rights and filing observations during prosecution). Further tasks may also include reviewing licensing agreements, due diligence work, analysing IP landscape of new products, etc. Each industry has its own peculiarities when it comes to IP. In the pharmaceutical industry, the IP rights (apart from trademarks) do not concern only patents, but additionally also supplementary protection certificates, utility models, regulatory data protection and sometimes also designs as well.

What does the team structure at your workplace look like?

I am part of the IP Legal team at Adalvo as a Senior IP Manager. Our team (as well as teams from several other departments) have been set up virtually, so we are spread across different countries, and we work primarily from home – this was the case even before the pandemic! Given the nature of the work as a Patent Attorney, this is not a problem at all, and I find working from home very practical and useful, as I can organize my workday more efficiently and save a lot of time by not commuting to work. Apart from that, we usually have a chance to meet in person during several events organized throughout the year, which gives us the opportunity to build personal connections outside work and is always very enjoyable.

What does your average workday look like?

As I am working from home on a daily basis, I have developed my own routine which starts by making myself a cup of English breakfast tea with milk (I am not a coffee guy) and review what has arrived in my inbox, so that I can plan my tasks accordingly for the day. Once done, I jump right into my regular tasks. When my wife is also working from home, we usually try to have lunch break together. And then, after a short while in the afternoon, the day suddenly comes to an end... In the evening, I usually spend some spare time reviewing case-law updates and reading some interesting articles that I have saved during the day for later.

What would a dream workday as a (European) Patent Attorney look like for you?

A day having 100 hours, so that I would have enough time to be digging into all the curious details of some interesting cases… and probably even that won’t be enough anyway :)

What is the most exciting aspect of being a (European) Patent Attorney for you?

It’s the combination of science and law that excites me in my role. Moreover, being an active member of the whole group of European Patent Attorneys and having the possibility to work together (or even standing “against” each other), feels that you have really achieved an important goal in your career. You’re learning new things every day and need to be creative in the wording and argumentation you wish to use or when interpreting parts of the description or even the law itself, when handling your own case, and this is one of the things what makes our work interesting in my view.

What are your least favourite tasks?

As an in-house attorney, you will always need to fill in reports and spreadsheets and I believe that no one really enjoys this, but it’s part of the game…  and of course, losing an argument or a whole case is never easy as well!

Does your job allow you to have time for your hobbies? Do you have any side projects related to patents?

Even in my free time, I still spend a considerable amount of time dedicated to IP. Together with my dear friend and a former colleague, we created our common brand under which we are able do some freelancing work – we started a platform IPduo.eu (so far accessible in Czech language only), where we make ourselves visible and promote our profession and keep spreading awareness about IP. We are also both involved in several educational activities for university students and Patent Attorney candidates, so even during our limited spare time, we are trying to stay active in the profession. However, I do try to keep most of the weekends for sports and my family. I enjoy playing tennis and ice-hockey (as a goalie) and also cooking and travelling together with my wife.

If you could start your career over, would you change anything?

No, probably not. I do not regret my career choices. However, I wish I could have obtained a full degree in law, in addition to my scientific and IP legal background, as it would be a very advantageous combination, but as time flies, it’s getting more and more challenging to accomplish this goal… Perhaps, I should have pushed my younger self even more, so that he had obtained a full law degree, before it’s too late.

If the Patent Attorney profession suddenly disappeared tomorrow, what else would you do?

Become unemployed :) … IP rights are a property like any other (either you own a car or a house or you have written a song or synthesized a new molecule), and although they are intangible, I don’t believe they may suddenly disappear and stop existing tomorrow. I believe, that there would still be professions very much related to this field, as human creations and some kind of inventions will always be here, and while they may take different forms, people would still try to seek a way how to protect them or to be attributed as the creators.

What advice would you give someone that wants to become a European Patent Attorney?

Get to know the profession itself and understand that it’s a lot about learning new things almost every day, which will never stop. Working in-house and in private practice is also very different, so go and talk to people from both sides and try to find what is more appealing to you – you may also consider changing the sides during your career, which is in fact more frequent than you would think. Also, remember that the beginning may not be easy for you and that it will take several years till you reach the required level of qualification. However, if you feel that you will like the work itself, you will enjoy the journey to it as well!

What do you think about the future outlook of our profession?

I believe that the technological evolution will help us in our daily workload even more and it will make it easier for the more burdensome administrative tasks we all have, so that we can spend more time on the substantive work itself. However, I do not believe that AI machines will be able to supplement our work or perhaps even replace us one day, as there is a big creativity required and a lot of human input itself – it’s not only about facts, but also about storytelling. Also, more and more companies are starting to realize that IP protection is really important for them and given the growing complexities in the procedures and while seeking protection all over the world, they will require assistance of Patent Attorneys and IP lawyers.