{"id":102340,"date":"2018-10-21T08:05:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-21T12:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipwatchdog.com\/?p=102340"},"modified":"2018-11-27T14:22:58","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T19:22:58","slug":"cost-effective-ip-strategies-biotech-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipwatchdog.com\/2018\/10\/21\/cost-effective-ip-strategies-biotech-startups\/id=102340\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost-Effective IP Strategies for Biotech Startups"},"content":{"rendered":"
Article Updated on November 2, 2018<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/a>A well-devised intellectual property (IP) portfolio can go a long way to ensure a startup biotech company\u2019s success in the marketplace. In general, patents allow the owner to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling or importing the claimed invention during the lifetime of the patent (35 U.S.C. \u00a7154). Typically, the IP investments of biotech startups are primarily comprised of utility patents designed to protect functional inventions and thereby serve as barriers to entry against competitors. When faced with budget constraints, however, biotech startups can tap into other forms of IP protection to ensure that the visual\/ornamental aspects of their products, which can be just as valuable as the functionality of their products, are still protected.<\/p>\n A valuable, yet often overlooked form of IP protection, is a design patent. Unlike a utility patent, which protects the functional aspects of a product (35 U.S.C. \u00a7101), a design patent protects the ornamental appearance or visual characteristics as they are applied to a functional invention (35 U.S.C. \u00a7171<\/a><\/u>). Where the aesthetic features of a product (e.g. in consumer products such as computer mice, speakers, phones, watches, etc.) are important to establishing and\/or maintaining a brand and breed customer loyalty, design patents can be secured to protect the configuration, shape, or surface ornamentation of the product in a cost-effective manner. For example, novel and ornamental three-dimensional (3D) designs applied to electronic or robotic medical devices, as well as two-dimensional (2D) graphical user interfaces (GUI), can receive design patent protection. One could posit that it may even be possible to receive design patent protection for the 3D ornamental representation of antibodies, drugs, and chemicals, whether as part of a GUI or a standalone 3D structure.<\/p>\n A design patent is restricted to one claim, which can, at times, result in reduced up-front filing fees. Albeit, since design patents are limited to a single claim per application, a single product can warrant several separate applications, resulting in initial filing expenses similar to that of a utility patent application. Where a single portion of a product (for example, a sequence of animations, or a button\/handle on an electronic device) is the aesthetically novel portion of the device, design patent protection can be secured relatively easily and quickly. The overall prosecution time of a design patent is generally shorter than that of a utility patent; where utility patents can take several years to be fully examined and granted, the general prosecution time of a design patent is approximately 18 months. Once granted, a design patent offers a lifespan of 15 years. Importantly, a design patent is not subject to publication. As such, the public does not see the contents of a design patent until it is granted.<\/p>\n Used strategically, design patents can successfully leverage a strong IP portfolio for biotech startups.<\/p>\nDesign Patents<\/h2>\n
Trademarks<\/h2>\n