Meet the IP Professional: Janine Swarbrick – Curiosity, Leadership and Making Space for Others

From experimental physics to patent law, Janine Swarbrick has built a career around scientific curiosity and helping others succeed. A Partner and Patent Attorney at HGF, she works with emerging technologies, particularly AI and digital health. She also champions inclusive leadership, mentoring and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to thrive in the IP profession.

Quick Profile

• Name: Janine Swarbrick
• Role: Partner and Patent Attorney
• Firm: HGF
• Location: Nottingham
• Areas of expertise: Physics, electronics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, medical technology, digital health and patent drafting and prosecution

From the laboratory to patent law

Janine’s route into intellectual property began in experimental physics. After completing her degree and PhD at the University of Nottingham, she moved to France to work as a beamline scientist at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

She enjoyed scientific discovery, but as her research became increasingly specialised, she began questioning her long-term career direction. Opportunities to conduct experiments were limited to particular facilities, while career progression depended heavily on research funding. Becoming a parent brought those questions into sharper focus. She wanted to remain in science while making more time for family life.

“I still wanted to stay in science,” Janine explains, “but in a way where it’s not me in the lab at midnight doing the experiments.”

Patent law offered that opportunity, along with something she hadn’t fully anticipated: the chance to explore a much wider range of technologies. Rather than concentrating on one increasingly narrow research topic, she could learn about new inventions across different scientific disciplines.

“I’m forever a lifelong learner,” she says. “I get to hear about a new kind of scientific discovery every week which I enjoy.”

Meeting inventors and sharing their excitement proved particularly rewarding. It also allowed her to contribute to the commercial development of technologies without conducting the experiments herself.

Finding purpose in innovation

Today, Janine works with technologies spanning physics, electronics, AI and healthcare. She is particularly interested in how artificial intelligence can deliver meaningful benefits to people’s lives.

Her work in medical technology and digital health brings her into contact with innovations that could change how conditions are identified, monitored and treated. She sees significant potential in predictive technologies, personalised medicine and treatments that could identify conditions earlier or prevent them progressing.

“Technology should be there to help people and to support humanity and make everyone’s life a little bit easier and a little bit healthier.”

She is equally interested in the challenges these developments create for patent professionals. AI is advancing rapidly, while patent law and examination practices continue to evolve. Attorneys must understand the technology, follow changing legal requirements and ensure the protection they pursue reflects what clients genuinely need.

Janine believes an important part of her role is helping inventors look beyond the technical excitement of their discoveries. Having worked as a scientist herself, she understands the satisfaction of seeing an experiment succeed. She enjoys sharing that enthusiasm while helping clients recognise the commercial value of their work.

“What’s exciting to a person as a scientist might not necessarily be what gets over the line at the patent office for a patent.”

Helping inventors appreciate both perspectives is one of the aspects of her career she finds most fulfilling.

Leadership shaped by experience

Alongside her technical work, Janine has developed a strong interest in mentoring, coaching and supporting colleagues. Her own progression to Partner has been influenced by people willing to share their experiences and advice.

She describes her experience of moving into leadership as positive, helped by seeing successful women in senior positions throughout her scientific and legal careers. Rather than simply observing their achievements, she wanted to understand how they had reached those positions. She asked questions, explored the challenges they had faced and considered how their experiences might help her own development.

For Janine, visibility matters.

“If you can’t see it, you don’t know you can be it.”

Having benefited from those role models, she now wants to offer similar encouragement to others. She enjoys helping junior colleagues prepare for professional examinations, develop client relationships and improve their approach to inventor interviews. Her advice is to stay curious, ask questions and remain open to opportunities.

“I’ve never wanted to look back in ten years and think, could I have done more? Could I have done something different?”

Now established in her own career, she hopes sharing her experiences will help others recognise the opportunities available to them.

Why representation matters

Janine’s commitment to inclusion is also rooted in her personal background. Growing up in an untraditional family, she was the first person in her family to progress beyond GCSEs, let alone attend university.

When she entered the patent profession around 15 years ago, she felt her background was unusual. Many of the people she encountered appeared to come from relatively privileged backgrounds, often with parents who had established professional careers. Her regional accent also felt like a difference. Later, while working towards professional qualifications, she spent a period navigating the demands of her career as a single parent.

These experiences helped shape her interest in IP Inclusive and its Non-traditional Family Network. She wanted other people entering the profession to recognise that there wasn’t just one route to success.

“Not everybody in the profession is the same,” she explains.

For someone facing challenges with family responsibilities, examinations or career progression, seeing another person who has managed a similar situation can make a meaningful difference. Janine believes that even helping one individual feel more confident about their future makes sharing those experiences worthwhile.

She feels the profession has become more diverse since she began her career, although continued openness and understanding remain important.

Creating workplaces where everyone can thrive

For Janine, inclusive leadership is about more than representation. It is about recognising the different experiences and needs of people within an organisation. She believes leadership teams benefit from varied backgrounds and perspectives, allowing them to better understand colleagues and develop more effective approaches.

She gives the example of workplaces seeking to support colleagues through parenthood, caring responsibilities or menopause. Having people in leadership who understand those experiences can help shape meaningful support.

“I think the best initiatives and the best leadership come from people who think a little differently.”

Different life experiences can encourage creativity and challenge established ways of working. Janine sees this as beneficial not only for individuals but for organisations as a whole.

Finding balance and knowing when to ask for help

Janine is equally passionate about helping people balance professional ambitions with life outside work. Her experiences as a parent, particularly while raising her children alone, helped her establish boundaries. When nursery collection meant leaving work at five o’clock, there was little opportunity to extend the working day. Although demanding at times, those responsibilities helped her keep work in perspective.

“Work is an important part of everyone’s life and you spend a lot of time at work, but it’s not everything.”

She believes that lesson applies equally to people without children or caring responsibilities. Having hobbies, personal interests and time away from work matters to everyone. With home working making it easier to check emails outside normal hours, maintaining those boundaries is particularly valuable.

Her advice to anyone struggling with competing demands is straightforward: speak up. She encourages colleagues to talk to managers, seek trusted mentors and share experiences with others who understand their situation.

And she is keen to dispel the idea that seniority means having all the answers.

“I certainly ask for help all the time, despite being a partner.”

For Janine, asking for support is part of maintaining a fulfilling career rather than a sign that someone cannot cope.

Inspiring the next generation

Janine’s interest in supporting others extends beyond the IP profession. She enjoys volunteering with local schools and charities, particularly in communities where children may have limited exposure to professional careers. Her aim is to encourage curiosity, build confidence and help young people see opportunities they might not otherwise consider.

One experience has stayed with her. During a school visit, Janine led mathematics activities and spoke to pupils about her work. Afterwards, a young girl approached her and explained that she enjoyed maths but had begun to see it as something the boys were better suited to. Meeting Janine had encouraged her to approach the subject with renewed confidence.

The teacher later explained that the girl had always enjoyed maths but was often quiet during lessons. For Janine, knowing the visit might encourage her to participate more confidently made the experience particularly meaningful.

“Maths and science are for everybody.”

She hopes more professionals will consider volunteering their time to share their interests and experiences with young people. Sometimes, she believes, a single conversation can make a positive lasting difference.

Outside the office

Away from patents and professional commitments, Janine enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, reading and exploring her creative side. Music has become a shared interest with her eldest son, and they have started attending concerts together. Their tastes lean towards rock and metal, although they enjoy everything from rap performances to local gigs.

Janine also enjoys painting, photography, sewing and experimenting with crafts, including linocut. When her children were younger, she enjoyed making costumes for World Book Day and Halloween. Reading offers another opportunity to escape into another world of imagination.

Family holidays are another favourite way to spend time together, particularly when they involve discovering somewhere new. Iceland has been the family’s favourite destination so far because, as Janine describes it, it was “like nowhere else on Earth.”

One memorable stop was the famous Blue Lagoon, where the family experienced its geothermally heated waters. Janine explains that the lagoon’s distinctive blue colour comes from tiny silica particles in the water reflecting blue light.

Whether enjoying live music, discovering new destinations or spending time on creative projects, Janine values opportunities to switch off from the demands of science and law.

Making room for curiosity

Asked what she would change about the IP profession, Janine returns to a theme that has shaped much of her career: creating opportunities for people to explore ideas.

She recognises that professional examinations, billable hours and performance targets bring structure to working life. However, she would like younger professionals to have more opportunities to step outside those demands.

Her ideal would be management-supported time for creative thinking and brainstorming, allowing colleagues to explore unconventional ideas without worrying about immediate targets.

“If ten crazy ideas come out and just one of them has legs, it could really benefit the whole workplace.”

She believes that freedom could help professionals reconnect with the curiosity and enthusiasm that first attracted them to science and innovation. It could also encourage fresh thinking and bring forward ideas that might otherwise remain unexplored.

Throughout Janine’s career, curiosity has provided the motivation to learn, develop and explore new opportunities. Her experiences have also reinforced the value of sharing knowledge, supporting others and recognising that professional success can take many different forms.

For Janine, the future of the profession depends not only on protecting innovation but also on creating an environment where people feel confident enough to contribute their own ideas.

Connect with Janine

• LinkedIn: Janine Swarbrick
• Firm website: HGF

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