This week, after 37 years of working at Johnson & Johnson, VP of MedTech IP Strategy Paul Coletti announced he was stepping down from his role (December 27, 2024 LinkedIn post). Thanks to the likes of Mr. Coletti, who now plans to remain in the IP field, U.S. pharma giant Johnson & Johnson has managed to grow its MedTech patent team from 14 to over 50 attorneys in the last four decades. ip fray requested an interview with Mr. Coletti to discuss his career at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), including impressive achievements such as the Stent Wars and collaborating with other businesses to develop IP law. In this interview, he also reflects on his biggest career inspiration and how he believes successful leadership can be achieved.
How has your role and the role of your team at J&J changed since you first joined in the 1980s?
When folks interview at J&J, they look me up on LinkedIn and they ask me something along the lines of: how have you survived or why have you stayed this long?
What I tell them is my title has only changed a couple of times but the job responsibility that I’ve had has changed frequently. When I started, I was prosecuting patents, then I moved into deals, then litigations, then shaping the law, then supervision, and then growing the company. My job has always been changing and exciting and that’s what has kept me here (until the time came for me to retire). I never had a desire to leave for somewhere else because I liked what I was doing here – J&J made my job exciting enough that there was no reason for me to leave. That has seemed to be a good recruiting tool: people like that idea when they hear it.
And I recognise that you don’t find a lot of people who are at the same company for 30-something years anymore – my kids tell me that folks change jobs all the time now – but to be able to attract good people and to keep good people is a very valuable tool for a company. Hopefully, my colleagues at J&J will be able to continue to do that.
What makes your approach to IP stand out in the MedTech market?
I take a very basic approach:
The most important thing with respect to patents is “what’s the invention?” – what’s new and, in the US, not obvious, or what’s new and, in Europe, inventive? You need to be able to describe that. Once you are able to describe that, everything else follows from it.
In medical devices, it’s sometimes hard to identify. But once you identify it and protect it, it can be very valuable. It can be something minor in your eyes, maybe a handle on a surgical instrument. However, if that handle makes the device easier to manipulate, it will be really important for a doctor or surgeon in an ER. If a suture needle takes a little bit less force to put into the body, it’s less painful for the patient, if you are developing new material for an implant or a contact lens and the material is easier to manipulate or breathes better in someone’s eyes so they don’t get red eye, that’s important.
Once you can really bear down on what’s different and why it is an important change, you are way more than 50% there. Now you have something you can tell people about. That’s what I try to do – in prosecution, litigation, deals, and changing the laws. I try to direct people towards thinking: “What’s important here for the progression of IP law?”
How would you describe your leadership style?
I have been reflecting on this a lot recently because I am leaving. The two most important things in leadership are:
- Respect: don’t treat anyone based on their title or age. But rather treat them as you would like to be treated. Some of the best ideas we see come from people who are not as experienced, or don’t have a high title – but that’s good. I would say respect is the most important thing.
- Professionalism: Of course, there is time for fun and games – for people to let off steam – but when you are sitting down to write an email or a brief, figure out the best way to do what you’re doing professionally. My dad had this expression about professionalism: “You don’t wear a bikini to go see the Pope.” The point is that there is a time and place for everything. When you’re about to meet somebody for the first time, make sure you are on time, addressing the person directly and not impolitely. All the things about professionalism you would expect. It doesn’t matter how you dress anymore – but the underlying professionalism has always been required and I think continues to be required. Once you do both of those, you are going to succeed. You have to have underlying talent, yes, but we see a lot of people with underlying talent who don’t succeed because they aren’t respectful, for example.
Who would say has inspired you the most in your career?
There has been a boatload of people along the way.
But the person with the single, most lasting, effect on me was Robert (Bob) Minier, the very first Chief IP Counsel I worked under. Bob happened to be born the day before my dad and while they led separate lives, professionally I felt as if I had someone very similar to my father looking out for me.
He had a substantial effect on my life because not only did he treat me how I felt my dad would treat me, but he also treated me with those two characteristics: he was very professional and very respectful. He would sit me down and he would ask me things like I was an equal – and I’ve tried to emulate that during the course of my career.
What are some highlights from your career in IP?
My most special accomplishments, I believe, include the following:
- I had a pretty large hand in growing our department – we now have over 100 IP attorneys but when I started, there were a total of 14 of us. I am proud of the fact that I have had a hand in hiring or acquiring the vast majority of them. It’s been developed into a very good group representing all of our MedTech companies. That’s one accomplishment that has done me well.
- For the longest time I was involved with a company that J&J doesn’t own anymore – Cordis – it makes coronary stents. We were able to grow that industry from zero to a multiple-billion-dollar franchise off the back of our patents. We were then heavily involved in the Stent Wars – very successfully. I was the lead in-house patent attorney on those cases and it did great things for the bottom line of J&J. Ultimately, it was a bit bittersweet. We wound up not innovating and ultimately losing the business because we didn’t innovate. But the patent team did a great job protecting the franchise until everything moved on.
- In the last 10 years, I’ve had more opportunities to work with like-minded companies to develop progress on IP law. I am not a lobbyist but we try to encourage companies and lawmakers to move the law in a positive direction. It’s not necessarily on behalf of J&J, even though we like to see certain changes but to make the law a better thing. When I came on board at J&J, the concepts of the Unitary Patent and the UPC were a pipedream. People loved the idea but no one knew how to get there. It was things like that we encouraged over the years. And I think the UP is going to be a great thing for the EPO.
What were your goals when you were first appointed VP of J&J’s MedTech Strategy in January 2023 and how did they fare over the last two years?
We have been able to get a good message to the public, wherein everyone understands the importance of discovery and invention as well as adequate protection of these inventions. Naturally, there is always work to be done, but we can be proud of what we have accomplished.
Finally, where do you hope to see J&J’s MedTech IP team in the next 5-10 years?
Naturally, it is impossible to know the future, but the team is well-equipped to meet any challenges, being in patent protection and litigation, licensing, or growth into new areas, such as AI. The management is in place for success. Now it will be up to the team and our partners in the MedTech businesses to meet any challenges along the way.