Fellows Meets: Patrice Durand, CEO of Valipat
Pete Fellows speaks with Patrice Durand, Chief Executive Officer at leading IP administrative company Valipat, about his career to date, the evolution of Valipat thus far and his plans for its future.
Valipat offer administrative services, including the validation of European patents, the entry into national and regional of PCT applications and the automated generation of Power of Attorney forms.
If you are interested in working for Valipat then please visit our latest job listings.
Tell me about your background and how you got into IP?
I grew up in Lyon (France), a city of food and wine. I then studied in Paris to become what we call in France a “generalist engineer” (i.e. knowing a bit of everything, which means we don’t know much on anything). Then, like most people, I got into IP by accident – a very fortunate one I must say! I practiced as a French and European patent attorney for 8 years at Cabinet Bloch in Paris before dedicating all my time – and a little more – to Valipat.
How did the idea for Valipat originate?
The idea of Valipat had been in Jacques Gevers’ mind for about 20 years. He had not launched it before either because the market was not mature enough or because he was busy working on other projects. He eventually created Valipat – as a subsidiary of the Gevers IP firm– at the end of 2008. We then separated from Gevers in 2012.
What was the first year like? Did the early success surprise you?
I took my role in 2010. The first year was restless, chaotic and extremely exhilarating. As to the success, we have been fighting so hard for it that I can’t really say it has been a surprise. I have always been convinced that, provided you do your best efforts to satisfy your clients, your business will succeed. And this is precisely what our teams strive to do.
Where is Valipat in its evolution now?
The first phase was to prove the business model worked. The second was to sustain the growth. The third was to grow from a start-up and model the company and its management on a SME structure. We now have 60 talented people on board (thanks to amazing recruiters!) and have launched new services. Now the fourth phase begins: being successful with the services we already offer and create new ones!
What is a typical day as a Chief Exec like?
Having a shower realising I have – again – only slept 5 hours, promising myself I will do better the next night… which hardly happens. As to the rest of the day, highly unpredictable…
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The feeling that everything is possible provided we truly believe in it and work hard for it.
What are the biggest challenges?
Accepting everything cannot happen immediately whilst refusing to wait too long!
What are your hopes for the future of Valipat?
Should the market indeed evolve in the direction we anticipate – i.e. more and more externalisation of the administrative part of the IP practice – I believe we have the vision, values, talents and tools for becoming a – if not the – leading actor in this domain.
If you were a paralegal joining Valipat, what would you expect to do on a typical day?
The roles of our paralegals have become more and more varied, while the possibilities of evolutions and interactions with other teams are numerous. Working on files of course but also being involved in corporate projects in order to sustain the evolution of our processes and tools, being part of the creation of new services, helping assessing the quality of existing ones, etc. And many of those unexpected new things that a company in its growing stages can offer…
Fellows and Associates would like to thank Patrice for his time. If you would like to know more about Valipat, please visit www.valipat.com.