I was diagnosed with a chronic immunological condition when I was very young and always wanted to become a physician or scientist in immunology. A talk by a patent attorney in my final year of a bachelor’s degree in life sciences in Singapore changed that: I was immediately drawn to the IP profession as I saw it as a means of marrying my interests in science with good levels of interaction and collaboration with people (which I sorely missed during long stints in the laboratory) and a passion for the law, advocacy, peoples’ rights and justice. Being from India, I returned to my home country to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in law and qualified as an advocate, registering myself with the Bar Council of India in 2012.

My health condition deteriorated whilst in Singapore, and another reason for becoming an advocate in India was so that I could be self-employed and decide when and how I wanted to work. It was entirely by chance that I came across an opportunity to participate in a vacation scheme in London at a city law firm during my law degree. This fully-funded vacation scheme led to a training contract to become a solicitor in the UK. On the way there, I completed my master’s degree in law at Cambridge, concentrating in public international law. My training contract saw me working in commercial litigation, taxation, corporate advisory and intellectual property (IP), and of course, I thoroughly enjoyed my six months in IP! I qualified as an IP solicitor working mainly in patent litigation and have been at my current firm, Pinsent Masons, for just over five years now.

Hand to heart, I am one of the lucky few who enjoys their day job. Given my background in life sciences, I work mainly in the life sciences/pharmaceutical sector, although I have also worked in other sectors. As a solicitor working with patents, I am usually involved in the patent life cycle after grant and my clients range from large and established pharmaceutical companies, originators, generics or biosimilar companies, to research centres, charities and start-ups.

A case in patent litigation in the UK usually lasts for around 18-24 months and during that time, I get to grips with what is usually a completely new scientific area. Sometimes this might be urological conditions affecting the human bladder or anticoagulants, at other times it might be formulation techniques to help drugs permeate human tissues better, or otherwise, in-seat power sockets in aircrafts! A typical day involves reviewing patents and other scientific literature to make assessments on validity and infringement. There is a good amount of interacting with different people ranging from our instructing clients (usually also trained lawyers or patent attorneys), other parts of the clients’ businesses (such as commercial or marketing teams), barristers, scientific experts, patent lawyers in other European jurisdictions to co-ordinate patent proceedings on the clients’ behalf, and other litigation service providers. The best part of my job is trying to understand a particularly complex scientific concept and discussing it with an actual expert in the field (imagine being taught cancer immunotherapy by someone who has won the Nobel Prize for it!) or articulating a case theory and preparing for litigation with the barrister teams, and watching our preparation and strategy unfold during trial in court.

If any of this sounds interesting, I would highly recommend participating in a vacation scheme or a shadowing programme that will give you a real insight into the role of an IP solicitor and patent litigator.

Patent Litigator (IP Solicitor) / Pinsent Masons

Last Updated: November 9, 2024