Kate Gaudry
Kate Gaudry, PhD, JD, is a Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Fort Hays State University, her PhD in Computational Neurobiology from UCSD, and her JD in law from Harvard. After graduate school, Kate worked as a patent scientist which solidified her interest in attending law school. Now as a patent attorney, she uses her PhD experience to help her clients in the computational biology and artificial intelligence space.
Can you describe your academic and professional background? What path led you to pursue this field?
I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was about 6 years old and enjoyed watching “Matlock”. Years later, my uncle became a patent attorney, and I loved that the job combined technology and law. I then declared a double major in physics and political science. My first political science class was “Legal Research”, and I became frustrated with the inefficiencies of looking up statutes and cases in the library, so I dropped the poly-sci major. After some internships, I started a graduate program in computational neurobiology. While I loved the scientific field, half-way through, I started to re-explore patent law. By then, nearly all relevant information was online and accessible via computers. I decided to work as a patent agent before committing to law school, and I loved the job.
Can you tell us about your current responsibilities?
I work with clients to help them develop patent portfolios to protect their intellectual property. I frequently talk to engineers to understand their projects and their objectives to provide opinions as to whether recent work is patentable.
What do you enjoy about your current job and work environment?
I enjoy learning about the clients’ efforts and ambitions and contributing to generating an intellectual-portfolio that can protect their innovations and improve the value of their business.
What are some of the challenging aspects of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is that it is imperative that we understand some very recent and cutting-edge technology developments. So we frequently must learn new concepts. However, that is also much of what keeps this job interesting.
What’s changing in your industry? Are there any future trends we should be aware of?
Most of my practice is in computational biology and/or artificial intelligence. Each of these fields is becoming incredibly interdisciplinary and popular. Patent offices and innovating companies are attempting to understand how various patent requirements will be applied in these contexts. (For example, who is “one of skill in the art” so as to evaluate what may have been obvious to this “person”?)
What activities, internships, or organizations would you recommend someone get involved with to help them break into this field?
Patent lawyers (and particularly patent prosecutors who help their clients secure patents) must have a very solid understanding of technology. Thus, having a strong technical background is extremely beneficial. If a patent lawyer is a well-respected and well-informed person in a particular field of technology, it is much more likely that the person will succeed as a patent attorney. So I would recommend that anyone interested in the field build a strong resume and network that clearly indicates their technical qualifications.
Is it common for people in your field to have a scientific/academic background (i.e. have PhDs)? Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages someone with a PhD might experience while pursuing or working in your field?
It is very common for life-sciences patent attorneys to have a PhD. It is less common for engineering/software patent attorneys to have a PhD. Having an advanced degree is always highly noted, by both law firms and by potential clients.
Do you have any final words of advice for those navigating these career questions? Is there anything you would have done differently given what you know now?
I learned so many extremely valuable skills during my graduate training as a PhD. For example, graduate school provided me with opportunities to participate in preparing manuscripts and to present frequently. I now write and present frequently about patent-related data, and this was a smooth transition for me. My advice is to embrace your strengths, experiences, and interests. If you are transitioning fields, you must master the new field. However, if you can bring the skills that you are acquiring through your PhD training and/or any other life experience, you may position yourself to be particularly valuable.
