Ana Neves’ life is a mix between the rigorousness of patent’s law and the curiosity of science.
Ana Neves holds a
chemical engineering degree. Before graduating, her goal was to work on the production/industry
but she ended up in the world of patents. Working in Portugal and in the UK, the
growing passion for patents and science pushed her to be a Portuguese patent
attorney. Currently, she works at Tecnophage, a Portuguese startup.
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| Ana Neves during our interview in Lisbon. |
You worked in very different places but probably there are a set of skills that
you considered vital for a good performance. Which are they?
Hard skills you
will always be able to learn if your mind is open enough to receive new
information. On the other hand, soft skills are a little more problematic if
you don’t have them. For instance, you cannot teach empathy, nor curiosity and
willingness to learn to someone. If people want to learn and to work in a team,
anything can be done!
When and how did this passion for patents
happen?
Well, it fell on my lap! It was nothing I
dreamt of doing while studying because truth to be told it was not something I
knew much about. I applied for a position in the patent department of a pharmaceutical company after
graduating and the passion grew time after time, job after job.
If you weren’t working as a Portuguese patent attorney, what would you be
doing instead?
Chemistry was
always my passion! I think if I wasn’t in the world of patents, I would like to
work on research, “test tubes” and all that! [laughs].
Being a patent attorney in a biotech startup, you deal daily with science. In
your opinion, what will be the major breakthrough in this field in the next 20
years?
It’s a really hard question! I am really linked to Tecnophage (where I
work) and the idea of an alternative to antibiotics based on phages really
fascinates me. Especially considering the days we are living in, where a lot of
bacteria that causes serious infections are now multiresistant.
Did you ever consider complementing your
education with a law degree?
Yes, of course! But not for the reasons
you might think. The truth is I love to study. I love to learn new stuff.
Taking a law degree would, without a doubt, teach me how to enter in the way of
thinking of someone who writes a legislative document. It is a complete shift
from the way of thinking of an industrial chemical engineer by education, like
me. Unfortunately, I’ve never had the time for such a commitment.
On the other hand, I am at the moment
studying to be a European patent attorney and the process is teaching me how to
analyze the European legislation. If you think about it, the goal is to learn
about patents and a law degree would, in theory, prepare me for much more than
that, which frankly would not be that relevant for my line of work.
When you have a bad day at work, what is your way to deal with stressful
situations?
I try not to contaminate the people around
me with my problems or bad mood. In those days, I need to go home earlier to
make a problem assessment. I need to be in a safe place (my home) in silence
thinking and analyzing what went wrong so I can overcome it.
Are you surprised as much as we were?! During this interview, it was difficult to hide our excitement! It's important for a patent attorney to have a scientific background when dealing with technological inventions. What do you think about this? Contact us for more info. See you soon!
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