In this episode you will discover: 

• What is a patent? 
• How soon should you invest in patent protection? 
• What you need to know about design patents for digital companies
• What the advantages founders gain from talking to a patent attorney 

Key Takeaways: 

• A patent gives you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing your invention. It is a defensive measure to make sure that your work is protected. 
• Invest in patent protection for your idea before publicly disclosing it without a confidentiality agreement so that you won’t risk losing your rights. Once you disclose your invention publicly, you’ll have one year to file for a patent. 
• Creating an interesting graphical user interface for an app, for example, can be protected under design patents. That’s a way for companies to protect the user interface for some applications. 
• Anybody can file a provisional application with the PTO, but it’s still more advantageous to talk to a patent attorney since they will make sure that the claims are as broad as possible to cover all possible different iterations. 

“USPTO is a ‘first-to-file’ system. So it's not necessarily first to invent, it's whoever's in the door first.  So if they are about to disclose it at a trade show, or to prospective investors, then they want to make sure that their patent is in the office.” - Giordana Mahn


Resources: 

Fish & Richardson Attorneys Author IAM Article "Neglect Begets Opportunity in Femtech IP": https://www.fr.com/insights/thought-leadership/articles/fish-richardson-attorneys-author-iam-article-neglect-begets-opportunity-in-femtech-ip/ 

Protecting Your Femtech IP(Webinar): https://www.fr.com/insights/webinars/protecting-your-femtech-ip/ 

The Basics of Design Patents(Webinar):
https://www.fr.com/insights/webinars/the-basics-of-design-patents/ 

Successful Patent Strategies for Digital Health and Digital Therapeutics(Webinar): 
https://www.fr.com/insights/webinars/successful-patent-strategies-for-digital-health-and-digital-therapeutics/ 

Fish & Richardson: https://www.fr.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giordana-mahn-32832212/ 
Women Of Wearables: https://www.womenofwearables.com/ 


Learn more from Carrie and Rebecca: 

Healthcare Insights (a monthly deep dive into specific topics for innovators): https://nixongwiltlaw.com/healthcare-insights
Telehealth/Virtual Care Mgmt Update (a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter tracking legal and policy changes across the nation): https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/telehealth-virtual-care-update-6901900767960068096/ 
Website: https://nixongwiltlaw.com/  


Carrie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrienixon/ 
Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccagwilt/
NGL on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nixon-gwilt-law/