Claudia Berndt has spent her entire 25-year career at a single firm, Hahn & Hahn Inc., in Pretoria, South Africa, which she joined in 1999 shortly after graduating from the University of Pretoria with a degree in chemical engineering.
But that’s not to say her professional journey has been without diversity and new challenges. As she explains:
“The variety of clients and fields of technology that I have been exposed to over the years has ranged from sports shoe manufactures to pharmaceutical companies down to the man on the street seeking to protect his invention.”
Education & training
- Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical): 1998 – University of Pretoria
- Bachelor of Laws: 2003 – University of South Africa
- Admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa: 2004
- Registered South African Patent Attorney: 2004
Professional background
During Claudia’s professional journey she has consistently tackled new areas of expertise and expanded her professional experience.
In the early days she focused on her degree subject, chemical engineering, drafting and prosecuting patent applications for a South African petrochemical company operating globally.
However, new opportunities soon presented themselves:
“Due to South Africa’s strong mining industry, I also drafted many patent applications for yielding mine props and safety equipment for mines. Additionally, conducting freedom-to-operate searches for generics companies as well as a bit of litigation formed part of the first 15 years of my career.
“I then added filing design applications, PCT national phase and Paris Convention patent applications as well as Plant Breeders’ rights applications to my portfolio.
“My most recent new venture is heading the patents department of a Middle Eastern IP firm in addition to my work at Hahn & Hahn.”
Professional satisfaction
That recent new challenge of heading the patent department of a Middle Eastern IP firm has been particularly professionally satisfying for Claudia:
“Apart from learning about filing and prosecuting patents in jurisdictions which I had previously had little contact with, learning about Middle Eastern culture and getting to know people from vastly different backgrounds to my own has been an enrichment to my life.”
Adding value to clients
One of Claudia’s observations from those 25 years’ experience is that personal attention is the key to bringing value to clients in the IP profession:
“Whereas automation of standard processes and the use of AI are on our radar, we pride ourselves in our human interaction with our clients from answering simple questions about renewal dates to complex litigation questions.”
Best practice to share with FICPI members
In addition to paying personal attention to clients, Claudia also shares with fellow members of FICPI’s global community how her firm benefits from placing a high value on staff.
One example shared by Claudia:
“We encourage staff to continue their education by paying for studies and allowing a set amount of study leave every year so that they are able to move into more senior positions in the firm, fostering a spirit of unity and working towards a common goal.”
The future for independent IP attorneys
Claudia shares with many FICPI members a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of the most important future factors for the IP profession:
“It will be interesting to see whether or not AI will in future develop to such an extent that it will be able to carry out work that is currently being done by patent attorneys, such as drafting patent specification and providing responses to office actions.
“Whether or not existing clients would trust this remains to be seen.”
However, Claudia also has a passion for addressing issues around the education of women and mental health and has ideas about how these areas could be improved in the future for the IP profession:
“Whereas great strides have been made in bringing more women into IP there is a need for greater awareness of the challenges that women face in the workplace.
“Due to the stressful environment that we work in, mental health is a topic that deserves more attention so as to do away with the stigma attached to struggling with mental health issues.
“We are living in the 21st century and the pressures we deal with are vastly different from those professionals had to deal with 50 or even 25 years ago.”
Value of FICPI membership
Having joined FICPI in 2008, Claudia has been a member for more than 15 years and is currently President of FICPI South Africa and active on the CET2 (designs) sub- committee.
Meeting new people and travel are her favourite FICPI benefits:
“Interacting with people from a wide variety of countries and learning not only about the IP systems and experiences in their jurisdictions but about their life experiences in an environment that differs from mine.
“As travelling is a passion of mine, getting to see a new city every year adds to the enjoyment.”
Final word – outside work
As we mentioned in the introduction to Claudia’s profile, competitive horse-riding events, known as dressage, is one way she relaxes outside of work but there are others:
“Golf, which I play for fun on a Sunday morning, snow skiing (sadly only once a year as we do not have ski resorts in Africa) and travelling.”
