Bristows Gregory Bacon on his transition from academia to IP and what STEM students can offer law firms
Gregory Bacon, partner and patent litigation specialist at Bristows, is well-placed to discuss a career change from science to law. He completed a PhD in neuroscience at Oxford University and spent time as postdoctoral researcher at Kings College London.
Intellectual property is often considered one of the areas of law most accessible to those with a background in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The highly technical nature of projects in this area offers an array of challenges for those with puzzle-oriented minds.
Bristows represents huge clients at the cutting-edge of the science and technology sector, working with mega-brands like Google, Facebook and Samsung. They also have an impressive life sciences client base and the firm worked with AstraZeneca and Oxford University on their Covid jab during the pandemic. Bringing new products and technologies to the commercial market can be a difficult process and Bacon specialises in helping clients navigate disputes over their patents.
He describes a case he is currently working on for a drug developed and licensed to treat multiple sclerosis, a lifelong condition affecting the brain and spinal cord. Treatments available still dont cure the disease, but they can significantly reduce underlying autoimmune reactions and slow disease progression, he explains. My client, a pharmaceutical company, developed and sells one of these treatments. Earlier this year, we made some new case law in relation to patent rights in the UK for that product, and whether these can be asserted before the patent is granted. Being an effective lawyer means coming up with solutions for your client, including sometimes ones that have not been tried before. Another case Bacon is working on involves a dispute between two pharmaceutical companies as to whether contractual royalties are payable in relation to a product that is licensed and sold by one of them for the treatment of rare forms of childhood epilepsy.
Whilst a STEM background is not a requirement to be a good patent lawyer, Bacon continues, it helps to have a basic grounding of scientific knowledge. He is quick to point out that the niche knowledge from his PhD is often not as helpful as the ability to interpret evidence. Being able to take data and understand it is key. For example, you need to be able to read scientific literature and understand how the information in that article can support your case or maybe actually supports the other sides case! Bacon says.
Enthusiasm for learning about technology is also an important quality for this kind of work, which is often something that STEM students develop through their studies. He says:
You need to want to keep learning about the technology as well as about the law. So when you get a new project on a chemical youve never heard of before or an interaction with an organ that youve never dealt with before, you think this sounds really interesting I want to get to know more!
Bacon acknowledges that his transition from science into law is made more unusual by his direct route. Strangely, I didnt go for a vacation scheme, I went straight for a training contract. I was offered an interview here at Bristows 20 years ago, and the interview went well. After accepting their offer of a job and completing his conversion course, Bacon started his training contract with the firm. I just loved every aspect of it, every seat! he reveals. But his interest in patent law had already taken root and after qualifying, he was offered a permanent position in their patents team.
After twenty years with Bristows, Bacons enthusiasm for what he does has in no way diminished. He describes finding an unexpected source of enjoyment in the management responsibilities that come with being a partner. It is quite an unusual step to go from not having any management responsibilities to having almost the full suite of management responsibilities, he explains. It brings with it a whole host of extra skills that you have to have to develop to be a partner. After eight or ten years of your post-qualification career, you take on all these new responsibilities: training junior colleagues, recruitment, winning client pitches and keeping clients happy. I think I enjoy this almost as much as doing the fee-earning work for the clients.
This split between his responsibilities as a fee earner and as a partner is also something that characterises his daily work. My day is split around 70:30. Seventy percent of my time is spent doing legal work, calls with clients, deciding on strategy, drafting documents, preparing cases for court, reading technical documents and speaking with international lawyers. Then the remainder of my time is involved in the management of the group, my department, and the wider firm. This includes ensuring my junior colleagues have enough work and theyre getting enough exposure to the right levels of work. And some general admin of course!
Considering his own career journey, what advice would he give to students looking at making the transition from STEM to law?
Do your research, Bacon stresses. Try and go to an open day or a law fair. If you can really get to see the firm as it operates behind the scenes, youll get a better feel for what the job looks like. Thats important because if youre a STEM student, youre looking at around a four-year process before youre qualified as a solicitor, and youve got something to show for all that work. So do the research and make sure it is something you want to invest four years of your time into.
Gregory Bacon will be speaking at STEM Focus: Life as an intellectual property lawyer with Bristows, a virtual student event taking place on Thursday 20 October. You can apply to attend the event, which is free, now.
About Legal Cheek Careers posts.
See more here:
How I used my background in neuroscience to make it as a lawyer - Legal Cheek
- Marcus Neuroscience Institute to Host Brain and Spine Symposium - South Florida Hospital News - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Elon University to launch neuroscience major in fall 2025 - Today at Elon - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- The brains stalwart sentinels express an unexpected gene - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Video catches microglia in the act of synaptic pruning - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Null and Noteworthy: Reexamining registered reports - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Accepting the bitter lesson and embracing the brains complexity - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- NIH neurodevelopmental assessment system now available as iPad app - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Stronger Bonds Before Birth Shape Healthier Mother-Child Futures - Neuroscience News - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- How Emotionally Intelligent People Learn to Control Their Inner Voice, Backed by Neuroscience - Inc. - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Gabriele Scheler reflects on the interplay between language, thought and AI - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Worlds first crowd-sourced neuroscience study aims to understand how our brains predict the future - EurekAlert - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Rewriting Neuroscience: Possible Foundations of Human Intelligence Observed for the First Time - SciTechDaily - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Calculating neurosciences carbon cost: Q&A with Stefan Pulver and William Smith - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The future of neuroscience research at U.S. minority-serving institutions is in danger - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Dopamine and social media: Why you cant stop scrolling, according to neuroscience - PsyPost - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Neuroscience Discovered a Clever Trick for Squeezing More Joy Out of Everyday Pleasures - Inc. - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The limits of neuroscience - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- BPOM Explains The Benefits Of Fasting From The Health And Neuroscience Side - VOI English - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- How tiny tardigrades could help tackle systems neuroscience questions - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The Mystical Mind Meets Neuroscience: Seeking the Roots of Consciousness - Next Big Idea Club Magazine - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Myosin Therapeutics Closes Second Seed Round to Advance Clinical Trials for Innovative Cancer and Neuroscience Therapies - PR Newswire - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Neuroscience Ph.D. programs adjust admissions in response to U.S. funding uncertainty - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- New tools help make neuroimaging accessible to more researchers - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Future Thinking Training Reduces Impulsivity - Neuroscience News - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Null and Noteworthy, relaunched: Probing a schizophrenia biomarker - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- How to communicate the value of curiosity-driven research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Cognitive neuroscience approach to explore the impact of wind turbine noise on various mental functions - Nature.com - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Football on the Brain: Helping coaches embed neuroscience knowledge - Training Ground Guru - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Taking Control: Using Neuroscience to Build Better Lives - theLoop - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Creating a pipeline of talent to feed the growth of Neuroscience: Lessons from Ghana - Myjoyonline - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roll On Down The Highway 2025 Tour coming to Neuroscience Group Field - WeAreGreenBay.com - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- STEM organizations host Neuroscience Outreach Fair for local K-12 students - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Adapt or die: Safeguarding the future of diversity and inclusion funding in neuroscience - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- The last two-author neuroscience paper? - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Gate Neurosciences Strengthens Focus on the Synapse as a Therapeutic Target with Acquisition of Boost Neuroscience - Business Wire - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why Firefly Neuroscience, Inc. (AIFF) Is Soaring This Year So Far - Yahoo Finance - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Breaking the barrier between theorists and experimentalists - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Preserving Brain Health and Advancing Neuroscience - University of Miami - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Science must step away from nationally managed infrastructure - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Repurposed Blood Pressure Drug May Treat ADHD - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- How to teach students about science funding - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Reflecting on 2024: Advancing Neuroscience Research to Improve Neurological Health - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Brains Hidden Circuitry for Risk and Reward Uncovered - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why We Keep Exploring Even After Learning the Best Strategy - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Unlocking Cellular Youth: The Protein That Reverses Aging - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- This paper changed my Life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and... - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roundup: The false association between vaccines and autism - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Static pay, shrinking prospects fuel neuroscience postdoc decline - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Unhealthy Diet Linked to Faster Biological Aging in Young Adults - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Bob Smittcamp Family Neuroscience Institute coming to Fresno in 2026 - ABC30 News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Norton Neuroscience Institute selected to pilot national Brain Health Navigator program - Norton Healthcare - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Coding bonus: Bats hippocampal cells log spatial, social cues - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- ADHD and brainwaves: How neuroscience is changing the way we diagnose the condition - PsyPost - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- David Robbe challenges conventional notions of time and memory - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- How the Brain Processes Space and Time - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Using neuroscience to help establish healthier habits | Opinion - South Bend Tribune - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Solvonis chairman on heavy-hitting M&A in neuroscience sector - ICYMI - Proactive Investors UK - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- New neuroscience research sheds light on distinct patterns of learning and generalization in autistic adults - PsyPost - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Neuroscientists need to do better at explaining basic mental health research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- How Severance shows the possibilities of cognitive neuroscience - Fast Company - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- AdventHealth Welcomes New Leadership In Heart and Vascular Services, Neuroscience and Orthopedics - Northwest Georgia News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- School of Neuroscience and Language Sciences Program recognized with University Exemplary Department or Program Award - Virginia Tech - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Early Exposure to Violent Media Linked to Teen Antisocial Behavior - Neuroscience News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The Real Cognitive Neuroscience Behind Severance - WIRED - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The 15 most popular psychology and neuroscience studies in 2024 - PsyPost - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The 'lizard brain' lie: How neuroscience demolished the greatest mind myth - BBC Science Focus - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Revolutionizing Brain Diagnostics with Light and AI - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- How Early Experiences Shape Genes, Brain Health, and Resilience - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out political news - Indiana Capital Chronicle - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Lithium Restores Brain Function and Behavior in Autism - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Partners in Diversity presents the science of belonging: exploring the neuroscience of inclusion - Here is Oregon - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Classical vs. Operant Conditioning: The Brain's Memory Tug-of-War - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Personality Gap Between Singles and the Partnered - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Neuroscience Behind Vermeers Girl and Its Hypnotic Power - ZME Science - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Serotonin, GABA, and Dopamine Drive Hunger and Feeding - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics - The Conversation - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- UNO Goalie and Neuroscience Grad Shines in Her Athletic and Academic Aspirations - University of Nebraska Omaha - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]