I love research, but choosing a non-traditional option was the best career move for me
Pooja Bhatia, Intellectual Property consultant, talks about how she made a switch from academic research to intellectual property management.
My story may seem funny, but then all life-changing events are funny, aren’t they?
A chance glance at an advertisement in a local Indian newspaper by the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology calling Women Scientists to apply for a one-year fellowship in Intellectual Property Rights brought back flashes of childhood memories of a folk tale glorifying “knowledge” as wealth that thieves cannot steal, fire cannot burn, water cannot soak, indestructible and worthy of possession by one and all.
It was a simple advertisement but I felt that it was related to the protection of this indestructible knowledge through a magical process, turning it into Intellectual Property (IP). But, the fact that this knowledge could be sold, traded, stolen, or turned into another form of commodity that needs protection, was intriguing. It really piqued my interest and aroused my curiosity more and more.
I jumped into it. I received hands-on training through the fellowship at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Intellectual Property Management Division for a year, following which I joined a startup IP Consultancy firm (Sanshadow Consultants) and gained experience in different domains.
The first case I handled was related to an invention in electronics, and being a biotechnologist, I told my boss that I was not confident about it. She smiled and urged me to work on it. Still nervous, I researched extensively to understand the concept and completed the assignment. At the end of the day, she said, “You have learnt your first lesson to not fear any technical domain.”
From that day on, I worked in different technical fields — electrical, mechanical, electronics, chemical, pharmaceutical, and medical devices.
Later, I joined another company, Biotech Consortium India Limited, which dealt with Government-related projects where I had to switch my style of working in a profit-making corporate to non-profit Government organizations. But here I got to work with medical device inventions and devise strategies for their commercialization, and it was interesting to understand the dynamics of actual user needs vs. the invention developed.
Currently I am working with Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, helping faculty members, students, and start-ups in IP management and technology transfer, which is quite challenging. The excitement of cracking a deal keeps me going, and I look forward to each day.
Being a techno-legal, I am mentoring a start-up in Sweden to formulate IP protection strategies for them and strategically advising an IP consultancy start-up for business development in India.
Overall, I get to work in various areas and I am content with my decision, I get best of both worlds — research and management.
Even though I love research, choosing a non-traditional option was the best career move for me. It has helped satisfy my intellectual curiosity and hone my analytical skills. Over the last 12 years, I have been exposed to new and emerging technologies and legal and governance issues. I would certainly recommend IP as an alternative career path for anyone not wishing to undertake hard-core research.
