Internal, external and global

We asked intellectual property inhouse counsel about the challenges in their work and what they see as the most significant legal developments

The work of an intellectual property (IP) legal counsel is very challenging, according to not only requiring an understanding and grasp of the laws, but also requiring them to familiarize themselves with the technical points of patents, placing a relatively high demand on the overall skills of the practitioners.

From the past work, Meline Huang, the President Assistant and General Counsel of Goldpac Limited, would argue that the main challenges are as follows:

First, internally, while balancing costs and expenses within the enterprise, it is necessary to do one’s best to do the sound foundational work, including regular searches and comparisons of the patents of competitors in the enterprise’s industry, related industries and around the globe, and guiding the internal team in developing commercially valuable patents.

Additionally, it is necessary to have a sensitive understanding of market demand, understand the customer’s sore spots and guide the R&D team in researching and developing practical patents with commercial prospects.

Personally, I believe that, for small and medium-sized enterprises, how to realize commercial benefits as soon as possible should be the focus in IP work, as the overly early research and development of a patent will usually not allow a small or medium-sized enterprise to realize a commercial benefit from it, and can easily lead to a situation where the enterprise cannot survive.

The grasp of these balancing points requires a relatively high level of overall skill from intellectual property legal counsel, not just simple legal handling skills.