A look into Intellectual Property Law: An interview with Micheline Gravelle

Micheline Gravelle, a graduate of the Immunology Master’s program here at the University of Toronto, is a patent agent at the law firm of Bereskin & Parr. Micheline served as a managing partner of the firm for six years, from 2014. We interviewed Micheline for IMMpress in 2013 but contacted her for our workers’ rights article to gain some insight into the intersection of this topic in intellectual property law.

After six years as managing partner, Micheline decided to step down from the position to focus more on her day-today work as a patent agent – mediating intellectual property licensing within the Life Sciences. Since we last spoke to Micheline, she has been focused on establishing a progressive work environment, starting with the introduction of a diversity and inclusion committee within the firm. She maintains that the culture within the firm is critical and wanted to model her firm’s environment close to the environment in which she spent her master’s degree. She has successfully shifted the ‘Old Boys’ culture of law firms away from gender, racial, homophobic, transphobic, and religious discriminatory practices towards a tight-knit, diverse group of employees, all from different science backgrounds.

Micheline cites her Immunology degree as being incredibly important on the worksite. Though it may be challenging to pursue a career as a patent agent in today’s workforce without a Law degree, she believes it is incredibly beneficial to hold an advanced degree in the sciences to support daily cases. Micheline has been involved in patents for CAR T cells, antibody therapeutics, and vaccines and thinks that the intersection between Immunology and law will only continue to become more pronounced.

When asked about worker’s rights in Intellectual Property law, Micheline maintained that it is very complicated and dependent on the company or university the worker is associated with. As a patent agent, Micheline is employed by whoever owns the intellectual property. Typically, when intellectual property is established in a University, the school will own the rights to the property outright. In this case, the university is the student’s employer who has developed the property. How a company or university works with intellectual property and compensation for the individual(s) who have created it is highly variable.

Obtaining a patent for a product is a time-consuming and costly process. To file for a patent in major global markets, costs can range from upwards of $100 000 CAD per country. To file in the US and Canada is less expensive, often beginning at $50 000 CAD. Independent investors or workers cannot typically afford to fund such endeavours, and thus, the legal rights of these patents are attributed to the companies that foot the bill. As patents are vehicles used in business, they can be used as leverage for putting money into companies. Patents can indeed be sold or acquired along with a company, and workers may also be compensated. Sometimes, to encourage the development of the new intellectual property, companies may offer monetary incentives to the employees. Pharmaceutical companies are typically more apt to file for patents due to substantial funding. Universities may have various policies when it comes to patents: the inventions can be owned but not commercialized, as these are not independently funded.

Employment contracts will detail the employee’s claim to any future intellectual property. However, the rights and obligations will heavily focus on confidentiality. Non-compete clauses ensure that patents cannot be taken to competitors.

A big thank-you to Micheline for her input into this complex topic! You can contact Micheline at mgravelle@bereskinparr.com.

- Claudia Ritzker