By: Josh Sloat

Fast Tracking Your Application
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​Getting a patent is no quick process. In the time between filing and issuance, your application will go through several stages, often from multiple patent offices and with months or years between stages. The total process can take two to five years and sometimes longer. But who has time for that? Sometimes you need a patent, and you need it fast.

Luckily, there are some options for fast tracking your application. In today’s episode, Dr. Ashley Sloat, President and Director of Patent Strategy here at Aurora, leads a discussion along with our all star patent panel, exploring one of these options – the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and how it can significantly speed up prosecution between international jurisdictions with similar policies. 
 
Expert Panel
Ashley is joined today by an exceptional group of IP experts including:

• Steve Stupp, Partner at Stupp Associates, LLC. 
• David Jackrel, President of Jackrel Consulting 
• Daniel Wright, Partnership Manager and Patent Strategist at Aurora Consulting
• Dominic Filice, Patent Expert at Parola Analytics, Inc.

Breaking Down Expedited Options
As was the case with the last episode, our discussion panel really jumps right into the thick of the material and in retrospect we thought it might be helpful for the not yet IP experts out there to set the table a bit. I sat down again with Ashley for a brief conversation to help set the stage for what the patent prosecution highway is, how it fits into the patenting process, and when it might make sense for you. We discussed:

• Real numbers on how long it takes to get a patent under normal circumstances without an expedited path. 
• Options for skipping in line and fast tracking your application when you need to move more quickly (U.S. and International).
• Benefits, risks, costs, and relative time implications for PPH, Track One Prioritized Examination, and Accelerated Examination.

Patently Strategic is available on all major podcasting directories, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We're also available on 12 other directories including Stitcher, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn, so you should be able to find us wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you’re an agent or attorney and would like to be part of the discussion or an inventor with a topic you’d like to hear discussed, please reach out.

For the visual learners out there, we also like to make our presenter slides available for your reference. This particular deck includes great visuals for PPH participating countries and a breakdown of the actual form for participation in the Global IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program.

​The Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign is seeking innovators with backgrounds in healthcare, engineering, computer science, or business to apply for this hands-on, full-time program (August – June). As part of a multidisciplinary team, you’ll learn how to identify important unmet medical needs, invent technologies to address them, and bring those products into patient care. Applications for the 2022-23 Innovation Fellowship are now open through August 13, 2021.

​The fellowship begins with an in-hospital immersion where fellows identify at least 200 needs. Teams:

• Select the most promising needs
• Prototype and test solutions
• Explore patent, regulatory, and reimbursement issues
• Develop operational and business plans to advance the project. Fellows work with the medicine, engineering, and business faculty at Stanford as well as prominent Silicon Valley inventors, CEOs, venture capitalists, and advisors.

 
Following interviews at Stanford University, 12 successful candidates will be awarded fellowships, including tuition and salary support. Stanford believes that personal and professional diversity inspires creativity in its teams and helps them innovate effectively for different patient populations. The Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign values the unique path of each applicant and encourages people of historically underrepresented groups to apply.

Announcement courtesy of ​MedtechWomen.

By: Josh Sloat

Please join us at the largest physician innovation event of 2021! 

We are extremely excited and honored to be presenting alongside an incredible speaker lineup – delivering a digital health IP workshop at the InnovatorMD World Congress 2021, taking place both virtually and in the Bay Area. 

Time & Location: Monday, August 2 | 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM PDT | Live Webinar via Zoom
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Digital health technologies are pervasive in every aspect of life and will likely be the future of improving patient outcomes beyond the clinic. Using patents to provide a competitive advantage for companies in this space has never been more paramount, but also never more difficult. We’ll discuss the generalities of the US and international patent systems and the specifics around patenting digital health technologies, including artificial intelligence, wearables, and machine learning innovations.

The InnovatorMD World Congress event brings together physicians and health tech startups from across the globe for keynotes, panels, and workshops covering the current state and future of healthcare-related innovation.

​Healthcare is going through rapid change. Physician Innovators and others are driving some of this through their innovations. This conference is a curation of the best ideas, experts, startups, and learning. 

• 3 days of Pre-Conference events
• 3+ days of Conference 
• 22 Hours of CME 
• 100+ Speakers
• 12 Workshops 
• 27 Startups 

Time: Aug 02, 8:00 AM PDT – Aug 08, 12:00 PM PDT

Locations:

• Online via Zoom
• In-person @ Z-Park/ZGC Innovation Center on Great America Parkway in Santa Clara, CA. 

​InnovatorMD's mission is to globally advance the work of physician innovators and entrepreneurs delivering solutions that revolutionize patient care. They are a group of physician innovators from various backgrounds with a single vision - to spread physician innovation to the rest of the world and to have a positive impact on patient outcomes and physician wellness while moving the healthcare industry forward.

By: Josh Sloat

Illustration: Declan Wrede

Aurora is partnering with Ann Arbor SPARK to deliver a three part SPARK.ed series. You've had questions around patenting and the SPARK team has been listening! We've put this series together to address the most common questions that arise from startups within the SPARK ecosystem. ​Our very own Ashley Sloat, Ph.D. will be the instructor for all three talks.

Check out Part 1 here: Patenting in the Early Years: A coming-of-age story

Key Insights for IP Success

Software is eating the world. It’s central to so much of today’s innovation, but in terms of patenting, it’s socially controversial and legally unsettled. We’ll discuss the dynamics at the core of both and what you need to know about the options for protecting your software-based innovation. We’ll take an international look at how the "world" views AI/ML innovations and also hit on particulars for SaaS and open source software considerations. From an implementation perspective, we’ll look at managing code ownership when outsourcing and how iterative agile methodology can impact your patent strategy.​

Time and Location: Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 11:30am - 12:30pm | Free Online Event

To help reduce the IP barrier of entry for early stage founders and startups, we regularly make our talented staff available for speaking engagements at conferences, competitions, accelerators,​ and incubators. We also partner with groups like Ann Arbor SPARK, XLerateHealth, and InnovatorMD to host live webinars. Please reach out if you'd like to schedule a talk or workshop for your group, and see our Events page for a sampling of past and upcoming talks.