"I want to change my profession from my first year as a postdoctoral fellow until my third year. This is a process of psychological struggle. At that time, if you wanted to change careers, everyone thought you were like a traitor and a deserter, and no one else in the lab understood. Moreover, at that time, everyone wanted to be a scientist, and they didn't have a great desire for money. If you practice law, others will think that you are doing it for money, and people in the lab may look down on you. So at that time, I just immersed myself in experiments, didn't dare to read legal books at work, and went home at night to study law books desperately. "
Sun Lin graduated from East China Normal University, and went to the United States to study in 1986 to get a doctorate in biology and law. He once worked as a Patent examiners in the US National Patent and Trademark Office,
He also worked as a senior patent and management legal consultant in Celera Genomics and ABI/Life Technologies, and served as the president of the American Chinese Biomedical Science and Technology Association. While working as an examiner in the Patent Office, Dr. Sun completed his JD degree from the University of Maryland. In 2119, lawyer Sun founded his own Sun-Hoffman Consulting biological consulting company. In 2116, Lawyer Sun and several lawyers jointly established their own law firm in * * *, California, providing legal services for Chinese companies in establishment, financing, merger and reorganization, technology transfer, intellectual property rights and other aspects.
Let's learn about Sun Lin's wonderful career together.
1. Why did you want to come to America at that time?
I had a wave of going abroad. In the 1981s, after all, there were not as many opportunities in China as in the United States. Everyone wanted to come and see it, and I came to the United States.
3. When did you come up with the idea of studying in American law school? What is the reason?
Because I was a Ph.D. student in the United States at that time and later worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, I didn't have much confidence in doing experiments myself, so I wanted to change my profession. At that time, I liked English better, but students with scientific background didn't like English much. I think the law is more related to English, so I want to give it a try. But at that time, I had no concept of law, and very few Chinese studied law. I should be regarded as one of the earliest Chinese lawyers from China who studied law school.
I didn't know anything about law at that time, so at the beginning, my plan was to give it a try. If I was not used to it, I would stop studying after one year. But as soon as I read it, I found that I liked it very much, so I kept reading it.
2. When did you have the idea of obtaining the qualification of patent agent? For what reason?
I studied law school before I became a patent agent, because it is not allowed to take an agent's license in the patent office. After finishing law school, I want to do some work combined with my patent background.
3. You worked in the National Cancer Research Center of the United States for four years, and at that time you started the law school course of the University of Maryland. At that time, you were doing biological research while studying law school. Can you tell us about that experience?
At that time, I was working as a postdoctoral fellow, and everyone was centered on scientific research. No one wanted to change careers. If anyone said that he wanted to change careers, it would be like a deserter. I already had this idea at that time, but I didn't start to change careers until I worked as a postdoctoral fellow for more than three years. After that, I still studied law school while I was a postdoctoral fellow. Later, I thought I should study a job related to my major, so I found the examiner of the National Patent Office.
(At that time, did you do research during the day and study in law school at night, so time was very tight)
Yes, time was very tight. At first, I was fine at the Cancer Institute, and it was only an hour's drive back and forth from the institute to the law school. But later, when I arrived at the Patent Office, I had to drive 141 miles a day. Everyone who stayed in Washington DC knew that the three places I mentioned happened to be the largest triangle in Washington DC, and I would run this route every day. At that time, I chose the University of Maryland for the sake of short distance, and the tuition fees of state schools were relatively cheap, but it was still far after going to the patent office. However, despite the hard work, as long as people have a goal there, they are still very happy when they come down.
(At that time, I had to work and study, and I had to read, didn't I have time to rest?)
Yes, I didn't have any holidays. I spent all my rest time studying and taking exams, because I already had children at that time and I had to spend time with them on weekends, so time was very tight.
4. You started working as an examiner in the U.S. Patent Office for three years in 1997. How did you get this position? What was the daily work like at that time?
Patent examiners is something I've always wanted to do, but I know it's not easy. It's a position in the U.S. federal government, and I can only do it if I have American citizenship. I applied for this position for one year. I kept in touch with some people in the patent office, and then there happened to be such a vacancy, so they called me. That job is very meaningful. All my current patent-related work was laid at that time, and I was basically familiar with all the patent examination processes during that time.
I have to deal with all kinds of patent applications every day, and I also have to deal with their lawyers. Moreover, in Patent examiners, everyone has his own expertise. I am engaged in biomedicine, that is, dealing with patents in biomedicine. At that time, I was the first Chinese from the mainland in the biological department, and there were also problems in cultural integration.
At that time, the workload was very heavy, and we were piecework. No matter what case it was, it took more than 11 hours from the time you received the case to the time you issued your first opinion. Simple cases were ok, and some cases were brand new to me, so time was tight. Some people may think that this job is a government department, which is relatively leisure, but in fact, Patent examiners is a very stressful job in the federal government.
after graduating from law school, I hope to stay in the patent office as an examiner. The work content is also very meaningful, and my colleagues get along well, and I am also an iron rice bowl. But later, Celera Genomics, a well-known startup in the United States, sequenced human genes. In 2111, Celera Genomics announced the completion of sequencing human genes together with the US Department of Health, which was jointly announced by the US government. At that time, US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair also announced the news. At that time, many friends advised me to go, and at that time, for the sake of children, this company was very close to my home.
1. After graduating from Maryland Law School, you joined Celera Genomics Corporation as a patent lawyer. You have been working for six years. This is your first formal lawyer job after graduating from law school. What challenges did you encounter at that time and how did you overcome them?
I have just arrived in this company for the first week and I haven't adapted yet. I also told the boss of the patent office that I want to go back to the patent office. But later, the more I worked in this company, the more I liked it, because after all, my horizons were different and my salary would be much higher. What I saw in the Patent Office before was a patent application handed in by others, but I don't know what this patent will be used for in the future, and when I was in Patent examiners, I often refused some applications, never thinking about it from the customer's point of view, but later I became a lawyer and found that different patents have different purposes and different values for customers. So the work in that company is more comprehensive, and we can consider the patent issue from the perspective of business.
2. Next, you joined ABI/Life Technologies and continued to be a patent lawyer. Why did you choose to come to this company? How is it different from the previous work? What did you get?
after living in Washington, D.C. for fourteen years, I really want to go back to the west coast, because I lived on the west coast when I first came to the United States. Just have this opportunity. After all, living as a Chinese in California is still very comfortable. Even though there are many friends on the east coast, the status of Chinese is still not so equal compared with that of whites. In California, there are so many Chinese that they feel their social status has also improved.
3. After that, you worked as the chief Asia consultant for Biotechnology
Industry Organization in Washington, D.C. Can you tell us about this experience?
It was a very different experience. At that time, I had been a lawyer in the company for ten years, and my work was smooth and my salary was quite high. I also had many other things, such as an American Chinese Medical Science and Technology Association in Washington, where I was the president. Later, when I was the president of this association, I broadened my horizons a lot, and got to know many people in China and the United States except the legal field. BIO was one of them. They wanted to enter China very much at that time, and I also felt that China needed such enterprises at that time. They asked me if I could be a consultant. I was hesitant at that time, and my salary would be halved, and there would be no compensation if I resigned voluntarily. But California is such an entrepreneurial atmosphere, and everyone wants to challenge themselves.
(Is that a part-time job?)
Yes, I also set up my own consulting company at that time.
4. While working in BIO, you founded Hoffman Consulting Company yourself. How do you think of starting your own company? Is it more difficult for Chinese to start a business in the United States? How did you overcome it?
At that time, I was the chief consultant of BIO in Asia and started my own startup company. The position of chief consultant in Asia takes a lot of time. I do some things about patent application, but also do some other consulting work, mainly the bridge between China and the United States. I help China companies come to the United States and American companies go to China. This thing is very meaningful, and I have learned a lot, which I didn't learn when I was studying law. Because you can deal with all kinds of people, you can't get in touch with them when you are studying. This is like government affairs. This kind of work is often done by lawyers in the United States, because you have to understand the law, know how to stay within the scope of the law, and at the same time coordinate with each other. I learned a lot in this process, and I also saw where my strengths and weaknesses are. Some of them didn't think of problems when they were studying in law school, and they began to rethink at this time.
1. This year, you co-founded a law firm with several other lawyers. How did you think of starting a law firm at that time?
I've always liked law-related work. Although I've been consulting, I don't have much to do with the law, but I usually help my friends with some small cases, so I want to work together later. It's more interesting to work as a team. If you do it alone, your customers will worry that you can't do something, which is quite risky for yourself and your customers. At that time, it happened to be introduced by friends, and I also very much hoped to cooperate with them, young and promising, and passionate. I have accumulated some contacts over the years, which can complement each other.
2. What difficulties did you encounter in the process of establishing a law firm? How is it solved?
The main difficulty is that there are fewer customer sources, and I have to compete with other law firms, because I didn't work in a law firm before, but I worked in a company, so there is no problem of customer source, because in fact, the business is to serve this company. Although I have dealt with many lawyers in the company and partners at all levels, now I have started my own business, and I have to ask those friends for a case later. This process still needs psychological adjustment.
3. What are the main businesses of this law firm now? What is your main job in it?
We now have lawyers engaged in mergers and acquisitions, securities companies, financing companies and intellectual property rights. I am mainly responsible for intellectual property rights, and all four of our lawyers are intellectual property rights lawyers. I do business on the one hand, and marketing on the other.
Nowadays, Chinese people need more legal services in all aspects when they come to the United States to start a company. We think it is quite good for us to unite to provide some legal services for Chinese customers.
4. What's your outlook for this firm?
Looking at the prospect now, it's very good. Customers have been coming over and phone calls have been coming to ask. I don't do many advertisements myself, but word of mouth tells us that our business is busy now. We are also considering recruiting more lawyers to do it together.
1. Will Chinese people encounter more difficulties in American social life, making it difficult for them to integrate socially? You have been in the United States for a long time, can you tell us something about your experience?
I've been in the United States for 31 years, and I've met all kinds of people. At first, I was in a red state, then I went to Washington, and now I'm in a blue state here in California. Many problems are related to race. It takes a long time for Chinese people to enter the mainstream society. Our generation is mainly from science and technology, and they usually work in companies, but few of them can enter the upper class of society. There will be some CEOs who start businesses here in California, and even fewer in other States. I think Chinese people still have to go out if they want to enter the mainstream American society, and they can't just stay in the circle of Chinese people. For example, if we have a Chinese association, then our Chinese association can establish cooperative relations with other non-Chinese associations. For example, most of the Chinese Lawyers Association in the Bay Area are Chinese, so can the Chinese Lawyers Association cooperate with non-Chinese associations? For example, I am also the president of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Association, and we donated to cooperate with an Indian medical association. When I was in Washington, I also combined BIO with this American Chinese BIOmedical Association, so at that time, Bio would also take our Chinese Medical Science and Technology Association as a partnership when meeting. In this way, two sides communicate through a platform. In fact, the scope of personal communication is very small, and only through platform communication can it have a greater impact.
2. What do you think is your most important advantage over others to achieve today's success?
I think the most important thing is open-minded. I think things should be comprehensive. It's definitely not enough to think about this aspect of yourself. One thing to think about is whether I get it or not. Team cooperation is very important.
3. In the face of high-intensity work, will there be times of great pressure, irritability and bad mood? How do you adjust? How to coordinate work and life?
Of course there will be. Everyone has a family. I have two children of my own. When I was a second child, I was studying law school and working as an examiner, driving 141 miles every day. This key depends on how to adjust. I often meditate. It's called meditation. There is also some exercise, but not too intense exercise, which is very helpful for emotional adjustment.
4. What is your proudest work experience?
I like my job in Patent examiners very much. Even if I don't work there anymore, my relationship with them is still very good. They will send me to give lectures and they will send me to India. Even if I