Live in beautiful Australia and use your patent savvy for high-profile international public good interventions. The Initiative for Open Innovation (IOI) is seeking a life sciences patent attorney.

The Initiative for Open Innovation (IOI) is a new global facility to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of science- and technology-enabled innovation, for the public good (www.openinnovation.org). Amongst the first targets for IOI is comprehensive patent system transparency and navigation.

We require an extraordinarily energetic and experienced patent professional to work with our information technology team and executive to:
• Actively engage in the creation of new web applications to standardize open patent landscaping;
• Create dynamic patent landscapes as public goods, focusing on tuberculosis, malaria and other critical infectious diseases;
• Provide internationally relevant patent law, policy and practice guidance as we add new jurisdictions, languages, and feature sets to the Patent Lens;
• Assist with multiple language implementations of the Patent Lens;
• Assist the Patent Lens team as we integrate science, technical and business data into the Lens;
• Liaise with key partners worldwide, including public sector agencies, patent offices, civil society and the private sector.

The position requires high levels of biomedical scientific sophistication, demonstrated patent analytical abilities, deep knowledge of patent systems internationally and excellent communications skills, both written and oral.

The position is for an initial appointment for one year, with possibility of renewal. Funded by The Lemelson Foundation, this position will serve as the IOI liaison with Indian Government CSIR's Open Source Drug Discovery project (www.osdd.org), with a focus on creating patent landscapes relevant to tuberculosis, and in incorporating Indian patent data into the Patent Lens.

Required:
• A PhD with postdoctoral experience (or equivalent) in the life sciences;
• A patent professional, admitted to practice in a major jurisdiction, especially the USA, Europe or Japan, with JD or patent agent qualification, or equivalent;
• A prolific and clear analyst and writer;
• At least 3 years of practice experience as in-house patent counsel or analyst focusing on biomedicine;
• Extensive experience in conducting freedom to operate analyses, patent landscaping, and in understanding patent families in multiple jurisdictions; and
• Web-savvy, with appreciation for the disruptive capabilities of Web 2.0.

Desirable:
• At least five years’ experience within the private sector in infectious disease or biomedicine;
• Hands-on capabilities in bioinformatics and/or chemi-informatics;
• Particular experience with vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and biologics related to malaria, tuberculosis, dengue, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases which disproportionately impact the developing world;
• A passion for the public good and for improving innovation system effectiveness, transparency and fairness;
• Written and spoken fluency in languages of Asian patent systems, particularly Hindi, Chinese, Japanese or Korean;
• Enthusiasm to be at the leading edge of the democratization of the innovation system; and
• Sense of humor, joie de vivre and appreciation for fine coffee and good company.

Remuneration:
Attractive salary packages will be negotiated with successful candidates, commensurate with qualifications but balanced by realities of public good funding, as well as relocation assistance.

Contact:
Applications, including CV, cover letter, references and any supporting materials, should be sent to Annie Connell, Cambia, at: annie.connell@cambia.org. For further information, contact Shona McDiarmid, Chief Patent Counsel, Cambia, at: shona.mcdiarmid@cambia.org, +61 7 3138 7432.

Additional Info:
Employer Type: Other
Job Location: Brisbane,  Australia

IOI is an evolving joint venture between Cambia (www.cambia.org) and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) (www.qut.edu.au).   IOI is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Lemelson Foundation. It is advised by an International Advisory Council which includes the Director General of WIPO (www.wipo.int), senior representatives of WHO, FAO, UNDP and WTO, as well as national and international innovation leaders and visionaries in both the public and private sector.  It is headquartered on the QUT Gardens Point Campus in downtown Brisbane, Queensland, with offices in Canberra.

Building on the platform of the Cambia Patent Lens (www.patentlens.net), IOI will create new Web 2.0 patent landscaping and decision-support tools to allow diverse new entrants into innovation, and to create an evidence base for policy and practice change for public benefit.

IOI will also explore, test, validate and support new collaboration and licensing tools to foster an effective ‘commons of capability,’ enhancing the ability of the public sector to create shared platforms on which diverse applications can be built.

IOI and the Patent Lens will be sector, jurisdiction and language agnostic.  However, the initial funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Lemelson Foundation will focus the Lens into improving innovation to alleviate the impact of infectious diseases associated with poverty.

The initial work will also seek to extend the Patent Lens as a service to Asia and other non-English speaking jurisdictions.