Hayan Yoon, Fenwick & West. Courtesy photo)Next Generation Women Leaders in Tech Law 2018: Hayan Yoon, Fenwick & West
Yoon obtained patents for a San Francisco company developing biotherapeutics to help cancer patients and for a South Korean biotech working on DNA-based therapies for heart disease, neuropathy, ALS and other illnesses.
November 12, 2018 at 10:00 AM
3 minute read
Hayan Yoon holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard and a J.D. from Stanford. She was also a fellow at University of California, Berkeley, where she conducted neuroscience research. Yoon helped obtain patents for San Francisco-based GigaGen, a company developing biotherapeutics to help cancer patients, and for ViroMed, a South Korean biotech working on DNA-based therapies for heart disease, neuropathy, ALS and other illnesses.
Who is the most important mentor you've had thus far in your career? Why?
Songyee Yoon (the CEO of NCsoft) is the most important mentor because she knows me well as my sister. She is a visionary in the tech industry, and she understands my clients' needs and expectations.
What's the best part of working in the tech sector?
Having opportunities to learn the most recent developments in tech sectors and deal with new legal challenges associated with the cutting-edge technologies.
What's the biggest challenge?
It can be common to all legal practices, but sometimes long hours and heavy workloads.
What's one area of technology that you're most excited about and why?
New therapeutics for incurable diseases because of their potential to change human lives, and efforts and devotion of multiple generations toward making them into reality.
How do you describe what you do for a living to people you're meeting for the first time?
I represent life science companies in all areas of strategic patent counseling, including patent prosecution, patent portfolio analysis and development, IP due diligence, post-issuance proceedings and opinion work.
What drew you to practicing law in the technology industry?
I used to be in life science industry as a research scientist and have always been interested in life science. Given that, it was natural for me to practice law for life science clients and keep being a part of the industry.
What's the best piece of career advice anyone ever gave you?
Be confident, be yourself, and do your best.
In 50 words or less, what's the best way to address tech's gender gap?
We need to break down the stereotypes of the tech industry and show various roles and talents required.
Describe yourself in one word.
Persistent.
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