Say Yes

Juniper Networks’ Erin Wong breaks down her approach to the in-house role and her determination to find solutions that work for everyone

By Sara Deeter

ERIN WONG IS A DIPLOMAT AND A negotiator. A business advisor. A seasoned attorney and team leader. As an intellectual property (IP) and patent counsel director at Juniper Networks, a California-based technology company known for its efficient, streamlined solutions to complex networking problems, Wong makes it her top priority to find solutions that work for everyone— the business included.

Modern Counsel recently caught up with Wong to chat about her perspectives on being an in-house counsel at a fast-growing company like Juniper.

I’d love to hear more about your path to Juniper. How did you first get into IP and patent law?

I actually studied biology in undergrad, but I took some prelaw classes as well to round out my education and found out that I had more of an affinity for the law than for science. After college, I decided to work at a law firm to see if it was something I was interested in as a career. I worked at that firm all throughout law school, first as a parale- gal and then as a patent agent. I became an associate when I graduated.

I always wanted to work in-house, though, to be closer to the business, the business strategy, and the big-picture decisions. So when an opportunity came up to work at Juniper, I took it. I started as a patent attorney but have since branched out into other areas like trademarks, copyrights, and standards. I also get to work with a lot of different teams, like the engineering team, the marketing team, and the corporate development team. Being here has really expanded my perspective.

How does that perspective help you in your work within the IP team?

Every team and every person here has a different perspective and different priorities. But I’ve learned to really appreciate different perspectives within the business because no matter what, everyone has the same goal: for Juniper to be successful.

My vision is for the IP team to be a trusted advisor to the business, to sit at the table and have an open, honest conversation with the business teams and develop credibility with them. In the legal department, we speak a lot about being a competitive advantage for the company. That means building close relationships so that people feel comfortable asking us any question, big or small. We don’t want to just be there when a team gets into hot water. We want to really be at the table for every step in the process so that we’re already part of the conversation when decisions are made.