intellectual property Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Four steps medtech startups can’t put off

Greenberg Traurig shareholder Ginger Pigott [Photo courtesy of Greenberg Traurig]

Developing and commercializing a new medical device is a success worth toasting for medtech startups — but that success also makes it more likely that litigation is in their future.

There are steps medtech startups can take to protect themselves down the road, said Greenberg Traurig shareholder Ginger Pigott, a litigator who defends major medical device manufacturers in court. She also advises medtech startups on early decisions and strategies that could have major ramifications down the road.

Pigott and two other women — Greenberg Traurig lawyer Miki Kolton and Fogarty Innovation Chief Innovation Officer Denise Zarins — will offer their expertise at our DeviceTalks West show in an Oct. 18 panel, “Going the Distance: Building Startups to Last.”

Pigott offered a preview of the panel for Medical Design &…

July 2023 edition: Life-saving LVADs, supplier innovations and AI breakthroughs

LVADs save lives: So why aren’t more available?

What’s new in 3D printing: medical devices, research, innovation, automation and partnerships

AI breakthroughs in medtech: 7 ways to enhance healthcare

Life-saving LVADs, supplier innovations and AI breakthroughs

Kyree Miller recalls the day his heart stopped beating.

“I remember the entire room going white,” he said. “And I actually turned over on my side and I said, ‘Tell my mom I love her.’”

A couple of weeks later, the heart failure patient — who was only in his 20s at the time — received his first left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant while he waited for a heart transplant. One year passed, then two, then three. Finally, after surviving on LVAD technology for seven years, his new heart came.

“When you get your transplant, there’s a whole new energy that you get. … But I can honestly say there was a whole new energy that I got when I had my LVAD,” Miller said.

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How medtech IP can help a startup navigate a ‘brutal’ environment

Now is the time for startups to build medtech IP for a future funding or exit, experts said at DeviceTalks Boston.

[Illustration via Adobe Stock]

There’s no sugar-coating the state of venture capital investment for young medical device companies that are looking for funding while building their medtech IP.

“It’s brutal out there,” said venture capitalist Jeremy Sohn, managing general partner at P74 Ventures. “… Is it completely bleak? Absolutely not. There’s a lot of money out there, billions and billions if not trillions of dollars sitting on the sidelines. There absolutely is money to be taken. You’ve just got to be creative” to close a financing.

Sohn was speaking in early May at a DeviceTalks Boston panel with Greenberg Traurig patent attorneys David Dykeman and Roman Fayerberg, as well as Luis Barros, an MIT lecturer and managing partner of Leadi…

Can I get IP for my healthtech AI?

With healthtech AI investment booming, companies are seeking guidance on when and how to protect that work.

Andrew (A.J.) Tibbetts, Greenberg Traurig

(Image courtesy of the FDA)

Can you get intellectual property (IP) for artificial intelligence (AI)? Absolutely. Should you file a patent application? Maybe, but there are alternatives. Should you consider data options? Yes. Is there a standard strategy for AI? Not if you want to see value from your IP.

The healthtech industry is investing heavily in software engineering and data science as it increasingly develops decision support, medical telemetry, surgical navigation and countless other medical software applications. The software investments naturally raise questions on how best to protect against copycats. It is certainly wise to obtain IP for your AI and software, to protect market position or set partnership terms. But while protecting other tec…

Massachusetts IP lawyer wins honors for patent strategy

Patent lawyer David Dykeman is co-chair of Greenberg Traurig’s global Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group. [Photo courtesy of Greenberg Traurig]

Greenberg Traurig patent attorney David Dykeman has been recognized as “Patent Strategy Attorney of the Year – Massachusetts” by LMG Life Sciences.

Dykeman is co-chair of the law firm’s global Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group, co-managing shareholder of the firm’s Boston office, and the founding co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Medical Devices Committee. His practice focuses on securing worldwide intellectual property protection and related business strategy for high-tech clients, with particular experience in life sciences, medical devices, robotics, materials and information technology, the law firm said.

RELATED: How IP protection is enabling robotic surgery innovation

“Massachusetts is one of the thriving hubs for …

Moderna says Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine infringed its patents

Moderna (Nasdaq:MRNA) announced today that it is suing Pfizer and its COVID-19 vaccine partner BioNTech over patent infringement in U.S. and German courts.

Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Moderna said it is in the process of filing the complaints in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts and the Regional Court of Düsseldorf in Germany.

The suits could pit three of the most significant COVID-19 vaccine makers against each other in an IP battle with billions of dollars potentially at stake. COVID-19 vaccine revenue boosted Pfizer to the top of the list among the Pharma 50 largest pharmaceutical companies on Drug Discovery & Development. Moderna and BioNTech also joined the Pharma 50 for the first time in the most recent edition.

“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO…

How the LOT Network seeks to protect medtech, biopharma IP

There are about 30,000 to 40,000 patents for sale on the open market at any moment. Traditionally, most patents for sale stem from distressed tech companies.

Patent assertion entities (PAEs, sometimes referred to as “patent trolls”) take advantage of the situation by buying up patents that provide fodder for patent lawsuits.

“They can just find a halfway decent looking patent for $50,000 or $100,000, and then they can threaten a high tech company with a $100 million lawsuit,” said Ken Seddon, CEO of the nonprofit LOT Network focused on protecting companies from the threat of PAE litigation.

Get the full story form our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Design patents can provide extra protection for medical robots

Filing design patents can protect a medical robot’s overall aesthetic and the software user interface.

Roman Fayerberg, Todd C. Basile and David J. Dykeman, Greenberg Traurig

[Image from Pixabay]Medical robotics companies often emphasize utility patents when building strategic patent portfolios, given the complex nature of robotics technology. However, don’t overlook design patents, which provide another layer of protection by covering elements of robotics beyond the scope of utility patents.

A robust patent portfolio is an important indicator of a successful medical robotics company. As the medical robotics industry continues to grow and more and more companies enter the increasingly competitive market, a medical robotics company needs a comprehensive and strategic patent portfolio around its technology to compete. A strategic patent portfolio attracts investors, keeps competitors at bay, and provides necessary ammunition in litigation.

Go to our sister si…

Design patents can provide extra protection for medical robots

Filing design patents can protect a medical robot’s overall aesthetic and the software user interface.

Roman Fayerberg, Todd C. Basile and David J. Dykeman, Greenberg Traurig

[Image from Pixabay]

Medical robotics companies often emphasize utility patents when building strategic patent portfolios, given the complex nature of robotics technology. However, don’t overlook design patents, which provide another layer of protection by covering elements of robotics beyond the scope of utility patents.

A robust patent portfolio is an important indicator of a successful medical robotics company. As the medical robotics industry continues to grow and more and more companies enter the increasingly competitive market, a medical robotics company needs a comprehensive and strategic patent portfolio around its technology to compete. A strategic patent portfolio attracts investors, keeps competitors at bay, and provides …

Keys to protecting your medtech AI from competitors

AI is a hot area in medtech. A panel of intellectual property experts had advice on protecting the IP.

DeviceTalks

[Image from Pixabay]

Between 2002 and 2019, annual AI patent applications more than doubled, and AI patent applications increased from 9% of all patent applications to 16%. AI is a white-hot area for investment and creation of valuable intellectual property, including artificial intelligence related to medical devices.

Protecting medical device-related AI was the topic of a recent episode of MassDevice and Medical Design & Outsourcing’s DeviceTalks Tuesdays, sponsored by Finnegan, a law firm that handles all aspects of IP.

The discussion involved Anthony Del Monaco and Cecilia Sanabria, both partners at Finnegan, and two CEOs of healthcare companies that have developed exciting AI-related IP: Jan De Backer, CEO of Fluidda, a respiratory imaging company, and Todd Usen, CEO o…

CoorsTek scores EU legal win in pink components trademark dispute

CoorsTek CeraSurf-p ceramic components for total hip arthroplasty [Image courtesy of CoorsTek]

The EU Trademark Court of Appeals in Paris recently upheld a Paris EU Trademark High Court decision that sided with CoorsTek against CeramTec in a trademark dispute over “pink” ceramic hip components.

The Paris Court of Appeals in its June 2021 ruling upheld the cancelations of the three EU trademarks and the dismissal of CeramTec’s trademark infringement and parasitic competition claims against CoorsTek — confirming the finding that CeramTec filed the trademarks in bad faith. While dismissing CoorTek’s counterclaim against CeramTec, the court also ordered CeramTec to pay CoorTek €50,000 in damages.

“CoorsTek is extremely pleased with the latest decision by the EU Trademark Court of Appeals,” CoorsTek CEO Jonathan Coors said in a July 15 news release. “Competition drives innovation, and patien…

SCOTUS preserves assignor estoppel in Minerva Surgical v. Hologic patent case

The front of U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Adobe stock photo)

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its Minerva Surgical v. Hologic ruling today preserved the legal doctrine of assignor estoppel — that inventors who sell patent rights can’t turn around and sue over the validity of the patents.

However, Justice Elena Kagan, in her opinion for the majority, did say that the doctrine has limits.

Get the full story on our sister site Medical Design & Outsourcing.