Welcome to the latest instalment of Managing IP’s ‘Five minutes with’ series, where we learn more about IP practitioners on a personal as well as a professional level. This time we have Börge Seeger, partner at Neuwerk in Germany.
Someone asks you at a party what you do for a living. What do you say?
I usually say something like: ‘I help life science companies do amazing things with their IP – getting drugs and diagnostics to market, building partnerships, making deals happen.’
If they’re still with me, I add: ‘It’s part law, part strategy, part translator between science and business.’
If they’ve already wandered off to the bar, I just say I’m a lawyer. Works either way.
Talk us through a typical working day.
Coffee. Inbox. Calls. Drafts. Repeat. No two days are the same, which I love. I might be negotiating a licensing agreement with a US biotech in the morning, reviewing a collaboration deal with a university hospital at noon, and advising a client on IP strategy for AI-powered diagnostics in the afternoon.
Plus, a few late-night WhatsApps with clients who just had an idea.
What are you working on at the moment?
A few pretty exciting things: A cross-border licensing and equity deal for a biotech client, a major out-licensing project involving an mRNA platform, and helping a pharma company restructure its global supply arrangements. And, on the side, getting bio.law (our online legal hub for the life sciences sector) ready for its next content wave.
Does one big piece of work usually take priority or are you juggling multiple things?
Always juggling – and mostly loving it. But when there’s a pivotal negotiation or a critical milestone, it tends to dominate everything else. The trick is to know when to focus hard and when to multitask like a maniac.
What is the most exciting aspect of your role, and what is the most stressful?
Exciting: Being right there when something new and bold gets off the ground – a first-in-class therapy, a breakthrough platform, a deal that opens new markets. Stressful: The just-one-more-turn-of-the-agreement emails at 11:47pm the night before signing.
Tell us the key characteristics that make a successful IP lawyer/practitioner.
Curiosity (you have to want to understand the tech). Clarity (translating science and strategy into something contractual). And resilience – IP law isn’t for the faint-hearted.
What is the most common misconception about IP?
That it’s just ‘legal protection’ or ‘something you register.’ It’s not. It’s often the entire value of the business. Getting IP strategy wrong is like putting bad fuel in a Formula 1 car.
What or who inspires you?
People who build things that matter. Young founders who bootstrap their science to clinical proof-of-concept. Nobel-prize-worthy researchers who stay curious. Clients who think big and get it done.
If you weren’t in IP, what would you be doing?
I’d probably run a bar somewhere sunny. Ideally, with a bookshop next door. Or maybe work in tech policy – I’m fascinated by the digital-health-AI-regulatory crossroads. Or both. Can you be a bartender/lawyer/philosopher?
Any advice you would give your younger self?
Take the call. Say yes to Stanford. Don’t worry too much – and always write that follow-up email.
What is your motto in life?
“Don’t overthink it – do the thing.” Also: “Smart, not fancy.” Applies to contracts, people, and espresso machines.
