INTERVIEW

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

I learned about the profession via job advertisements, when I was looking for “something technical off the beaten track”. I decided to the take the step away from a more regular engineer’s job because I liked the perspective to work at a crossroad where various disciplines meet, such as technology, law, language, business strategy, teaching, and writing.

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

For example, I advise clients on IP strategy (i.e. in relation to how IP can help them reach their business objectives), I advise clients on how to organise IP-related aspects within their company (i.e. how to make sure that ideas from the tech people reach the people who decide on whether or not to apply for a patent; or help companies set up an internal IP department).

Furthermore, I plead in oral proceedings and appeal before the EPO, train younger colleagues on the job and as a tutor for the EQE and in the Oral Proceedings workshop of the European Patent Academy. In my role as associate partner, I am involved in strategic matters relating to our own firm.

If you had to split your role into science, law, and business, what is the proportion of each?

It's hard to say how much of my time I spend on tech/law/business etc, as my daily activities seldom relate to only one of those aspects. For example, when defending a patent application you talk a lot about technology, but “the rules of the game” are determined by the law.

What does the team structure at your workplace look like?

We work in teams of about 4-6 Patent Attorneys, who are usually within the same or related technical fields but have different levels of experience. We also have teams of formalities officers (comprising both certified formalities officers and trainee formalities officers). Each team of formalities officers works with about 2 teams of Patent Attorneys.

What does your average workday look like?

I don’t really have an “average workday” – I plan my schedule such that I have days in which I have a lot of interaction with clients, colleagues of our firm, colleagues from abroad who handle cases in their home country for my clients, examiners of the European Patent Office etc, and days in which I mainly work on my cases.  I like both!

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

I would love to represent a client in oral proceedings before the Enlarged Board of Appeal! And take my trainees along in handling the case so they get a unique opportunity to learn.

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

Working with creative people, being involved in latest developments in technology, and being able to support inventors in achieving their goals for a better world.

What are your least favourite tasks?

Any purely managerial or administrative tasks that have nothing to do with patents.

Does your job allow you to have time for your hobbies?

Yes, and I think that’s really important! Being a Patent Attorney is a mentally demanding job, so you need to do something totally different on a regular basis. However, it’s a bit of a give-and-take; every once in a while, the workload peaks (e.g. due to coinciding deadlines in different cases, for different clients) and then the work simply needs to be done. On the other hand, in our firm it’s perfectly OK to balance that out when the workload allows. And normally, the hours are not excessive.

However, this all varies significantly from firm to firm, depending on company culture.

I work 4 days a week for our firm EP&C (and actually quite a number of colleagues do this at our firm), which gives me time e.g. for being a tutor also outside our firm and for my books Smart in C and Tactics for D. But apart from that, I consciously make time for doing things that haven’t got anything to do with patents and to meet up with people from outside the patent profession.

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

Not really, maybe start in the patent profession a bit earlier – after university I had two other jobs before becoming a Patent Attorney. On the other hand, it’s good to bring some other experience (like being an inventor) into the job.

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

Teaching would be a logical step for me, as I have been teaching for many years and I enjoy it a lot. On the other hand, it could also be something totally different, like a job that involves making things with your own hands, as I’m generally not afraid to make a big change every once in a while.

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

Be prepared that the training period can be tedious at times and that progress is usually not linear. Be kind to yourself, seek support from other (trainee) Patent Attorneys to help you through, not only with the studying but also with the mental challenges involved. But if you like the profession, it’s definitely worth it!

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

Of course things will change – they always do.  However, I think that we’re still a long way away from automating everything. For example, writing patent applications involves a lot of communication with the inventors, to explore their ideas. I don’t see any AI-system being able to do that any time soon. I think with all the software developments, the human interaction that’s already a key element in the work will become even more of a focus than it already is. In addition, I see software merely as a tool – these tools most likely will become better, but they will still be tools. An interesting quote I recently read: “if AI uses the results of all the works produced so far in a certain field, the results of the AI will by definition be average”. And my clients deserve better than average!