I happened to meet Meenakshi Khurana once when she had come down to conduct a seminar on Patent Drafting at IIPTA and the first opinion any person in the room made was that: she is extremely humble. A person of her stature and position with a down to earth attitude immediately captured our attention. The seminar was wonderful and the students left a lot wiser and I can say honestly that I was glad I attended the seminar and even more glad that I met her.
When I was given the task of working on the “IP Practitioners of India”, the first person I called to set up an interview was Meenakshi Khurana because she is an individual with a composure and humility who would set a perfect example for the upcoming generation.
Mrs. Meenakshi Khurana- IP Attorney
The Road to Khurana and Khurana:
Her introduction to IPR was at Panacea Biotec Pvt. Ltd., where she was recruited as a Research Chemist after completing her M.Sc. Chemistry Honors from Punjab University. At Panacea, she was selected to be part of the in-house Patents team where she was introduced to IPR. She underwent certification courses and soon cleared the Patent Agent exam. From 2005-2010 she focused on handling Patent Searches, Patent Drafting, Designing around Strategies and Patent Prosecution.
Since 2010, I have been working as a Patent Attorney at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorneys. My main areas of specialization are pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology arts including small molecules, new chemical entities, pharmaceutical formulations and drug delivery technologies, crystalline forms, stereoisomers, organic and inorganic chemistry, peptide chemistry, biochemistry and various biotechnology related subject matters.
A Day at work:
A typical day at work for Mrs.Khurana comprises of managing the team, patent prosecution and advisory practice as well. She practices patent drafting and provides legal opinions on validity, infringement and FTO for a large number of Indian and Foreign clients.
Being a patent attorney makes me help corporates identify, create, protect, promote, and commercialize their patent Portfolios.
It makes me happy when I am able to help Indian pharmaceutical companies forming critical decisions relating to product launches in India or abroad based on my legal opinions.
Advice to candidates:
It is important that candidates develop the right skill sets and it is even more important that it is put to use in the correct manner.
Candidates must develop a good command over written and spoken English as every patent specification and legal documents have to be written in perfect English.
In pleas and pleadings, expression of thoughts is more important than mere possession of thoughts. Also, patent professional having a technical degree need to have a strong hold in field of science/engineering else they will not be able to understand, analyze and draft patent specifications which are complex techno-legal documents.
Plans for the Future and Challenges:
Mrs. Khurana, a partner at Khurana and Khurana is working hard to spread the wings of the firm and open more offices and is intent on opening one abroad.
She believes that acquiring human resources with the right kind of skill-sets who offer long-term stability and commitment is a challenge her firm faces.
We at IIPTA sincerely wish Mrs. Khurana’s dreams for the future come true and has a very prosperous road ahead.
