FEATURED CONTENT
Interview
Industry Profile: Genentech’s Mark Jackson
In-house counsels have played a vital role in developing some of the biggest life sciences companies in the country. Genentech is a major player in the biotechnology field and former Senior Patent Counsel Mark Jackson (pictured right) was a key piece of the company’s rise through the industry ranks. LMG Life Sciences Editor Phillip Bausk sat down with Jackson and discussed the past, present, and future of the biotech industry.
How did you get involved in the biotech industry? What subsequently led you to pursuing a legal career in the field?
While attending the University of California-Berkeley, I received a small fellowship to perform undergraduate research and obtain a bit of lab experience. One morning in late 1979, I received a call from someone who was working at a company called Genentech. Evidently he had gotten my name and number from my old teaching assistant. He told me about Genentech and convinced me to join the company during its early stages. I was hired as a lab tech with initially, very little background, and began working with the company while I was still finishing my undergraduate degree at Cal. I did research for eight years and as Genentech grew, I did more substantial and varied work in the labs. So I began on the science side of the biotech industry but by 1988 I began exploring other career opportunities within Genentech. That same year, Genentech’s general counsel suggested that I transfer from the research area to the legal department as a patent liaison; a position having me act as a conduit between the legal department and Genentech scientists. The position quickly expanded to include working with outside counsel, providing them with background regarding the science developing within the biotech industry generally and Genentech specifically. In addition, when I came into the legal department, I immediately began working on Genentech’s patent litigations and pretty much worked on litigation or litigation-related projects for the
next 24 years. It turned out to be a wonderful “on the job learning experience,” particularly in the early years while I was attending law school at night. Because we seemingly were always involved in some phase of a lawsuit, I was constantly exposed to litigation-related issues, as well as the insights of many fine lawyers who represented Genentech as outside counsel for those cases. The biotech and genetic engineering fields grew rapidly from 1980 to 1988. Great strides were being made in the Genentech labs and I considered myself quite lucky to be a part of it. Although the science was certainly exciting, I began developing a growing interest in the legal side of the company. I became particularly drawn to legal issues focused on intellectual property, and in the end, I was quite fortunate being able to witness both the evolution of the science underlying the biotech industry as well as a great deal of the law affecting that industry.
What type of issues did a company like Genentech face during the evolution of the industry? What trends helped dictate patent litigation for the company? Do you see any trends developing for biotechnology companies today?
Over the years, there has clearly been an increased sophistication exhibited by companies, law firms, and the courts regarding biotech related IP issues. This is unsurprising given the ever increasing number of biotech patents issued, IP related lawsuits filed, as
In-house counsel became better able to communicate their insights regarding their company’s business as well as the goals the company sought through litigation. In the end, I believe that outside firms have really enjoyed working with knowledgeable and committed in-house attorneys.
LMG LIFE SCIENCES 2013
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