Jason Mackenzie - Examiner of patents
Irene Dowdy ID Photographics
Salary range
AUD$40,660 - 62,000
What I studied
Bachelor of Science (Hons) 1995
Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) Immunology 2004
Career path
Part-time work while still a student
Patent Examiner – IP Australia 2001 – present
My Life – from Student in New Zealand to intellectual property in Australia
Jason was interested in biology at school and so studied science at Lincoln University in New Zealand, taking mainly biological courses. He finished the honours year of his Bachelor of Science degree in 1995. He decided to continue learning by doing a PhD in immunology, and came across to Australia in 1996 to start his thesis at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University in Canberra.
While still doing research for his PhD thesis, Jason went to a seminar given by a patent attorney.
"I got quite interested in the whole idea of intellectual property and patents. At about the same time, I heard that IP Australia was advertising in the paper for new patent examiners, and I was encouraged to apply by friends who already worked there. The job sounded intriguing and was also handy because it would allow me to stay in Canberra, which was attractive to me for personal reasons."
IP stands for intellectual property, and IP Australia is the Australian Government agency that administers Australia's IP system, which includes patents, trademarks and designs. The patent system in Australia allows scientists and inventors to protect their inventions. Jason started working for IP Australia in 2001 as an examiner of patents in the pharmaceutical sciences section. This involved an initial period of training where he learnt how to examine scientific innovations, and determine if they were patentable.
"I enjoy my work as a patent examiner because of the enormous variety. I deal with issues such as new vaccines, possible cancer treatments, or using extracts of plants as medicines. You end up being a bit of a 'Jack-of-all-trades'. It means that I am always learning and that's something I enjoy. Many of the patent applications have been put in by international pharmaceutical companies. I keep up to date with their cutting edge research and use my scientific training and knowledge every day. I read patent applications in detail, search enormous worldwide data-bases and consult with colleagues. There's a lot of teamwork. We help each other!"
Jason finds that, having done some hands-on lab work in his PhD and honours year, he can readily visualise what the application is describing. He uses his scientific training to check the claims that are being made.
Jason has also had some legal training on the job, and must deal regularly with patent attorneys. "That's something I never thought I'd be doing when I started in science."
My advice for students
“Study whatever interests you the most. Career plans can be good ideas but you need to be flexible. There are so many different areas in science, and they are changing so fast. That's what makes it exciting. But it also means that you don't know what will be a hot topic in ten years' time. If you choose what interests you now, the chances are you will still find it rewarding in the future.”