Understanding Intellectual Property Basics for SaMD

Intellectual property might seem like a daunting task to tackle so here is a brief introduction to some IP basics to start you on your journey.

Health tech innovations often encompass multiple different types of intellectual property (IP) that can be protected in a range of different ways, including trademarks and patents. Your IP is likely to be a large proportion of your business value, so ensuring you have strategies to capture and protect this value is vital. Setting up these strategies should be done from the earliest possible opportunity and revisited regularly as your company grows to avoid infringing on the IP rights of others. Also, just in case you needed any more reasons, revenue has been proven to be greater in businesses, particularly SMEs, that have taken steps to protect their IP.

At first glance protecting your IP might seem like a complicated process, but the importance of it cannot be understated. Even small start-ups should start considering IP early on to ensure that when you come to look for investment you aren’t caught out and can reassure potential investors that your IP protection is built on solid foundations.

To help, here are some of the basics you need to understand to start on your journey. 

• Ownership: Understanding who has ownership over the IP assets in your business is the first step in protecting that asset. Ownership cannot be assumed. Just because you paid for something, does not necessarily mean you have ownership of the IP. 

• Freedom to operate (FTO): FTO is a very common requirement for grant applications and investors. FTO is an assessment made by a qualified IP attorney that you have the ability to sell a particular product or process without infringing on the IP rights of others. These assessments are often done as part of an IP Search. 

• Protection: IP protection is only worth something when you have built a firm foundation. Protection can come in the form of registered (e.g. patents and trademarks) and unregistered protection (trade secrets and copyrights). Having a patent does not necessarily mean you have FTO!