Jen L.
About me
| Jen L. | |
| Chemistry | |
| Chemistry, Life Sciences & Pharmaceuticals | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Wentworth | |
| 2002 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Director, Intellectual Property | |
| Kymab Ltd | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Healthcare / Science and research | |
| Medium-size business (50-249 employees) | |
| 2014 |
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A day in the life of a Director, Intellectual Property in the United Kingdom
In-House Patent Attorney (Pharmacuetical Industry)
My career goals when I graduated
Become a Doctor, not much beyond that! Once I had my PhD, I was really stumped as to what to do. Didn't have a lot of success looking for lab work (PhD too biological, whereas undergrad was Chemistry, so wasn't good enough at PhD level for either subject!). Thought about retraining as a vet.
My career history
PhD, 2002-2006
GSK in-house patent attorney 2007-2014 (UK and European qualifications gained in 2010)
Courses taken since graduation
PhD (Cambridge, Christ's College), Biological Chemistry 2002-2006
Queen Mary diploma in Intellectual Property, 2008
European Qualifying Exams 2010
Chartered Institue of Patent Attorneys Exams 2010
How my studies have helped my career
You can't become a patent attorney unless you have a 3 year technical degree - and yes they do check!
My advice about working in my industry
Its quite tricky to get into, so if you can get any work experience, or get yourself part-qualified, then that will really help
What I do
Prosecute and file patent applications, review agreements, conduct freeedom to operate analyses and advise business on IP opportunities and risks.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Patent Law (that's a 3 year post-graduate training thing!)
Organisational skills (managing deadlines) - always been a stickler for lists, so it fits with that part of my personality
Attention for detail - I know most jobs say attention to detail - but it's really crucial here - missing something could cost your company millions of pounds! Again, this fits with my personailty, but you also learn techniques on the job to help you with this.
Written Communication - a real need to be able to communicate difficult scientific topics in a clear and concise way to others, and to persuade them to your way of thinking. This one came with training, feedback and practice.
Verbal communication - being able to advise the business of risks, often telling them things that they don't necessarily want to hear. I have found this most difficult and have a coach to help and reguklar feedback.
What I like most
Managing my time and dealing with a number of different topics and still learning science every day. Contentious proceedings and court is also really fun!
What I like least
Drafting patent applications and doing freedom to operate searches
What surprised me most
How much I love the job - I wouldn't do anything else. Never wanted to be a patent attorney, but fell into it when no one would give me a job in the lab!
Next steps...
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