Innovations are powered by a thriving ecosystem that not only protects R&D investments but also translates them into new products or technologies for the betterment of society !
Harish Chandran, our next pathbreaker, heads Intellectual Property and Licensing at Novonesis (India), a leading global company that develops sustainable solutions rooted in biology.
Harish talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about applying his PhD background in the field of IP/Patents that promote scientific advancements which not only benefit businesses but our world as well !
For students, Life or career is not always a straight road. It has several twists, turns, and forks at many places. Sometimes, there are more opportunities on roads that are less travelled !
Harish, what were your growing up years like?
I was born in a village in North Kerala and raised in Chennai where I did my schooling up until 12th standard in an English medium, CBSE board. My father was a junior engineer at a private automobile service station and my mother is a homemaker. My elder brother is an engineer and my younger sister is a former school teacher.
Growing up, I wanted to become a medical doctor following the footsteps of my uncle who was a famous doctor serving the poor and needy in a little town of Chengalpattu, near Chennai, where I used to spend my school holidays outside of summer vacation.
However, by a strange quirk of fate, I missed admission to medical college by a whisker and I was only selected for BSc Agriculture at Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) in Coimbatore. I decided to join the course since I took inspiration from my grandfather who was a renowned farmer in whose house I had spent most of my summer vacations.
What did you do for graduation/post graduation?
I studied BSc (Agriculture) at TNAU for my graduation. When I got a scholarship through Dept of Biotechnology (DBT) for post graduation, I chose to specialize with a Masters in Biotechnology at the Centre for Plant Molecular Biology (CPMB) also at TNAU Coimbatore. I secured a scholarship for my PhD through the CSIR-JRF scheme, and I got selected for a PhD at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) at Hyderabad. I chose to join the latter (CCMB) since my senior was a student there. For my PhD, I specialized in biochemistry and biophysics. Further into my career, I have done a postgraduate diploma in Patents law from NALSAR university of law and an executive general certificate in strategic management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode.
Can you talk about some of the influences that led you on such an offbeat, unconventional and uncommon career path in Intellectual Property?
In BSc agriculture, I studied a variety of subjects that taught me about field work (for example , Agronomy), working with money (for example, Economics), working with people (for example, Extension) and working in a lab (for example, Biotechnology). Subjects related to money and the lab interested me the most. However, because I got a scholarship, I chose to study biotechnology for my masters. While at my master’s, I had to choose between going for a job after my course or continue with a PhD. When I got a scholarship to pursue a PhD, I decided to go for it since the scholarship was way more than the starting salary I could expect from the first job after my master’s. While doing my PhD, due to family circumstances, I had to make a decision to stay back in India when the regular routine of students in CCMB would be to go abroad for a PostDoc and possibly explore options to settle down there. Exploring my options in India, I realized that I was not so in love with wet-lab- meaning working in a lab doing hands-on experiments. But I realized that I was very much interested in reading about science and thinking about it. That was the time when we were looking to publish our first paper and because of the rule that we had to rule out or exhaust patenting options before sending for publication, my guide tasked me with helping make the decision. So I started reading up on the topic and realized that it had a lot of elements that I was interested in doing. I decided to attend a Value Added Patent Information Systems (VAPIS) seminar being conducted in CCMB and got to hear many stalwarts of IP talk about the upcoming product patent regime, India’s preparedness for the same and the lack of skilled IP professionals in this area. I decided to explore this area further and so joined the weekend diploma course in patent law being offered for the first time by the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR). This course exposed me a little more to the basics of patent law and I realized I was able to enjoy studying it. During the 4th year of my PhD, I saw an advertisement for recruitment of patent examiners at the Indian Patent Office. I decided to apply for the same, and I was called for an interview. At the interview, my ongoing PhD in biology and my completed post graduate diploma in patent law was likely viewed favorably and I was selected for the post. I asked for an extension of the joining date by six months, came back and discussed the opportunity with my guide, and with his blessings, wound up my experiments, wrote additional papers and submitted my thesis and left to start my career in patents by joining as an examiner at the patent office in Kolkata.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Tell us about your career path.
While working at the patent office in Kolkata and later in Mumbai, I realized that the patent office gave only a one sided exposure to the patent system in general. For example, I could only see what the applicant had filed and fought hard to defend. But I had no way of knowing why they had filed the application that way and why they were fighting for a particular claim/application but were happy giving up another similar claim/application. I realized I needed to go to the other side of the patent office (i.e., industry) to understand the same. As I completed my 3rd year at the patent office, I decided to explore the industry and was lucky to join as Assistant Manager in the IP department at Panacea Biotec. The industry was very different from and more professional compared to the Patent Office. I learnt the basics of drug development and formulations at Panacea. However, the work was focused on pharmaceutical formulations, and I felt I was not using my biology background. When Glenmark Pharmaceuticals offered me an opportunity to work in the biologics space, I decided to move there. Biologics are a class of medications that are derived from living organisms, such as animal cells, bacteria, yeast, or proteins and genes. They are different from conventional drugs, which are typically made from chemicals. Biologics are more expensive and difficult to produce than other drugs.
In Glenmark, I supported the biologics R&D work in Switzerland and India. I helped map the entire patent landscape of multiple innovator biologics drugs and help plan for biosimilar development and entry. Additionally, I helped with antibody insourcing. I cleared my patent agent exam also during this time. However, my work at Panacea and Glenmark were focused more on developing generics or biosimilars of existing innovator drugs. I felt I was still missing the insight as to how innovators developed drugs and why they wrote patents the way they did. That was when I got an opportunity to work for Novonesis (then Novozymes). I was their first recruit in Patents in India and in the past 16 years have helped build the team in India to do all types of patent department roles (search, prosecution, litigation, paralegal, licensing, library). Starting as an individual contributor, I am now both an individual contributor and a people manager.
How did you get your first break?
My first break into Intellectual Property was when I was selected as examiner of patents at the patent office in India.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
Figuring out if Intellectual property was interesting for me: I was doing reasonably well as a PhD student and was interested in a research career in science. Also I was surrounded by people who were pure academics focused. So, it was daunting for me to explore careers outside core research. Since this was pre-social media days, I did a lot of reading about careers in the science magazine career section which gave me an indication of life as a patent attorney. I additionally reached out by email to some mentors who gave me their perspectives. This gave me confidence to make the transition.
Transitioning from government (patent office) to private (industry): A government job has a lot of benefits and prestige associated with it and hence it was challenging for me to explore opportunities outside government. However, I went with my gut feeling and what I liked doing. Thankfully, I have not regretted the decision one bit.
Transitioning from an individual contributor to becoming a people manager: As an individual contributor, one is focused on technically developing oneself. However, as a people manager, one’s focus should be on technical development of people in your team, sometimes at the expense of yourself. This can create some insecurities and overcoming this can be a challenge.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I work with Novonesis (formerly Novozymes) at the Bangalore Office and head the Intellectual Property and Licensing team in India.
My team represents Novozymes at the Indian patent office to secure optimum patent protection for Novozymes in India. We also help with search and analysis to help assess the patent landscape existing in a particular area of technology, whether the invention disclosures submitted are patentable or whether Novozymes will violate any third-party patent rights if it launches a particular product. We also support the business with agreements that have IP clauses with customers and collaborators.
To do my job well, I need to have reasonably good technical understanding, patent understanding, business understanding, legal understanding, and empathy for working with people.
What is a typical day like?
A typical day is spent meeting with the team to help remove bottlenecks for them, meeting with the leadership to understand priorities and meeting with business to help secure the best outcome for them in IP negotiations. When I am not in meetings, I spend time working on tasks that are outcomes from the meetings or preparations for the next meeting.
Novonesis is the worlds’ biotechnology powerhouse that aims to better our world with biology. More than half of the world uses Novonesis’s solutions. Our expertise spans more than 30 industries and our biosolutions help companies balance their business needs along with the needs of our planet. We invest more than 10% of our revenue in research and development. I love that I and my team work hard to ensure that the investment in R&D is protected. In the last 16 years, each day has been different with new challenges and learning opportunities that make my work meaningful.
How does your work benefit society?
An IP team’s work helps secure the optimal IP situation for the client. This ensures that the work of the client does not get copied or usurped by others without benefit to the client.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
In Novonesis, I have helped build a fantastic team in India that does global standard work. Many processes developed in India are being implemented globally. Outside of Novonesis, I have created awareness about IP, mentored and on some occasions helped individuals brainstorm on the best way forward in their current career and life situation.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Life or career is not always a straight road. It has many twists, turns, and forks at many places. It is hard for someone to have clear visibility of the end goal so early in one’s life. The best way to go ahead is to attempt to understand oneselves more clearly- for example knowing our likes and dislikes, finding what energizes us and what drains us etc., and choose the way forward. What works for one does not always need to work for another. Sometimes, there are much more opportunities in the roads less traveled or at interfaces between traditional careers.
Future Plans?
Novonesis is a brand-new company born out of the merger between two fantastic companies, Novozymes and Chr Hansen. So the canvas is much bigger and the opportunity to contribute and make an impact is even more. Look forward, along with my team, to help grow and realize the purpose of Novonesis. India is also at an interesting point in its growth story and I hope to play a small role by creating awareness about IP, supporting entrepreneurs and supporting the ecosystem along the way.