|
Science
and Beyond
Lachlan
Mullane
Edited by Ben Callegari
Are
you one of those people who loves science, but is not interested
in the white coat and fancy goggles? Mr Lachlan Mullane was
one such individual who took his love of science to a field
where many people would not even suspect that science would
apply … the law!
My day in science was a reasonably typical one. One of our
clients contacted our firm because they had received a letter
of demand from another competitor company stating that they
[our client] were infringing their [the other company] patent.
I performed an analysis of our client's product and compared
this to the disclosure of their competitor's patent. I gave
our client a legal opinion as to whether we believed our client
was infringing their competitor's patent. We found that our
client was infringing claim 1 of their competitors patent
but there was likelihood that the patent in question may be
invalidated.
This type of situation happens fairly regularly and as a patent
attorney, this is the sort of legal opinion that our clients
pay us to give.
“There are many
different career paths available to science graduates. Not
all of them are necessarily simply working in research or
as a 'lab rat'”
I got into my career because -- whilst I have an appreciation
and enjoyment of science, particularly with keeping up to
date with new advancements in technology -- I do not have
any interest at all in being a "lab rat". I studied
science at school (physics, chemistry, mathematics) for my
HSC, I did an undergraduate science degree majoring in molecular
biology and genetics (B.Sc) at Sydney University. It was during
this that I met somebody who was a patent attorney. The more
he told me about his job, the more interested I became.
I then discovered what other qualifications I needed to have
to be a patent attorney and thus enrolled in a Masters of
Industrial Property (MIP) at the University of Technology
Sydney and graduated at the end of 2005. To be registered
as a patent attorney, I needed to apply to the Patent Standards
Board and the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.
If a client comes to me with an invention, it is my job to
discern what the invention is and draft a suitable patent
specification to ensure that my client gains the broadest
protection for their invention. In this way, my client’s hard
work in researching the invention and ultimately coming up
with a solution to a known problem or providing a viable alternative
to known ways of doing things will be protected and they can
hopefully benefit by commercialising their invention with
an “edge” over their competitors.
Patents are an essential part of the scientific process and
ensure that research, which is often vastly expensive, is
rewarded by commercial gain. From the simplest gadget to drug
treatments to cure life threatening diseases, progress in
science would not be made without the economic reward that
patents provide.
There are many different career paths available to science
graduates. Not all of them are necessarily simply working
in research or as a "lab rat". It is a difficult
path, and I think that a real interest in science is needed
to sustain your goals and find a rewarding career in the science
industry.
|
|
