Fellows meets Greg Pang of G Pang Law
Greg Pang of G Pang Law talks with Consultant Phillipa Field about his motivations, goals and career in IP to date.
Greg is licensed to practise law in Ontario, Canada and is a registered trade mark agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Prior to his law career, he was a freelance writer and worked in the film and television industry for four years.
You initially completed a B.Com. in Marketing before entering into the law profession some years later, why the change in direction?
I never actually began a career in Marketing and after my degree I worked in film, I sort of fell into law and IP after learning about copyright and distribution in the film industry.
What motivated you to work in IP?
It’s hard to explain, I love what I do. When I worked in the film industry, copyright and trade marks were like mystical issues that you just let the expensive lawyers deal with or let the insurers dictate what you can and cannot do because they sometimes didn’t completely understand IP issues themselves. Okay, well “mystical” is probably not what most of us thought about IP issues – maybe more like “boring”, “annoying”, “complicated”, etc. I suppose that was why I was drawn to trade marks in the first place: not because it was boring, but because it was something that needed me to change my thinking and wrap my head around what exactly is intellectual property and why it’s important. I began working with trade marks during my first law summer student position and since then I haven’t looked back.
You are currently working for yourself. How did this decision come about?
Well I was working for myself part time for 4 years whilst working for the Federal Government. I’d always pictured myself as an entrepreneur and said to myself “Do I see myself working here for the next 10 or even 30 years?” and the answer was always “No”. It wasn’t easy to do, leaving a secure environment and building a business of my own but it was what I’d always wanted. The main difficulty is maintaining the balance between building and providing; you need to be constantly aware of business development but still be in a position to provide a professional service to your existing clients.
Is it difficult to balance work and personal life?
Not so much anymore. We’ve recently moved from Ottawa back to Alberta where my wife and I grew up. If you asked me a few years ago if I’d ever considered moving back the answer would have been no, but since our son was born it’s been a benefit to have our families close by as a support network. It was difficult to visit them often but now we’re back, and they’re getting older, we can offer them support as well – it’s a two-way street. In terms of work, it can be difficult switching off, it’s not like you get in at 8am and leave at 4pm and switch off from your working day, you’re constantly thinking and it’s sometimes hard to relax. But spending time with my family, doing some yoga and ripping down the trails with my mountain bike can solve most of that.
What are your career goals?
My goal is to build a healthy practice and develop my trade mark work, both in Canada and internationally. It will be a slow build but I have all the tools I need, with the help of networking events such as INTA. I’d possibly like to hire an associate or two in the future.
What are the positive and negative elements of working in the IP industry?
In terms of positives, the nature of trade mark registration means there’s potential for gaining a truly international reach through sending work to foreign associates and vice versa. It’s difficult to highlight the negatives, although I do experience the same challenges as in my commercial and corporate law practice. A lot of my colleagues in trade marks rely on their relationships with foreign agents and it is difficult to keep the flow of work being sent out at a steady stream, especially in the current economy. This is something I know I need to be aware of when developing my practice and should not rely too heavily on, there needs to be a balance of priorities and work.
When not working, what do you enjoy doing?
I’ve not had chance to enjoy it for a while, due to the relocation and my practice, but I’m an avid cyclist. Any outdoor sports really; snowboarding and (ice) hockey. I’m also really interested in social media and how it can tie in with business. Any business event or opportunity that has social media functionality interests me, such as INTA. I focus on Twitter and LinkedIn, although I should invest some more time in contributing to the LinkedIn groups that I’m a member of – they’re a great source of knowledge and networking. And of course, as mentioned before, I enjoy spending time with my young family.
Fellows and Associates would like thank Greg for his time. If you’d like to find out more about Greg and G Pang Law please visit www.gpanglaw.com. To share your views, comments and suggestions on this article email us at [email protected]