BioNTech’s patent counsel on fostering groundbreaking innovation
Ahead of her panel discussion at LSPN North America, Kady Bruce shares insights into her role and how she ensures innovations meet the criteria of novelty and nonobviousness.
According to Kady Bruce, patent counsel at BioNTech, the German-based biotech’s approach aims to strike a delicate balance between protecting IP and enabling scientists to innovate rapidly.
Ahead of LSPN North America, where Bruce will be speaking on a panel, she sat down with LSIPR to shed light on her role and the challenges she faces day-to-day.
Having joined the company a year ago after working at Wolf Greenfield, she now oversees patent strategy, prosecution, and portfolio development across infectious disease platforms.
Her daily tasks include handling freedom to operate concerns, conducting diligence, and evaluating potential assets for portfolio development, as well as managing new patent filings and reviewing clinical trial data.
She also advises on R&D best practices, meeting BioNTech’s strategy that demands collaboration between the IP and R&D teams, ensuring that IP supports innovation.
Despite the challenges of such a varied workload, Bruce says the importance of staying focused, recognising that each interaction represents a crucial opportunity for her colleagues to connect with IP expertise.
Outside counsel to in-house: 'So many other functions'
Bruce says the transition from private practice to in-house counsel, adapting to a less structured environment, took some getting used to.
As she put it, “In a law firm, everything feels very organised and predictable. Going in-house, there are so many other functions and things going on.”
It took her about six months to become comfortable with the new environment inherent in her new role within a dynamic and active company.
To help acclimatise, she took detailed notes during conversations to revisit in the future and wasn’t afraid to seek clarification or ask questions, “because odds are, somebody else has the same question and the answer could benefit everyone's understanding and alignment,” explains Bruce.
