By: Josh Sloat

Please join us for the largest physician innovation event of 2024! 

We are extremely excited and honored to be presenting alongside an incredible speaker lineup – delivering a talk on Government Grants and IP Rights at the InnovatorMD World Congress 2024, taking place later this week.

About the talk. The enormous expense of R&D can be a massive financial hurdle for startups. Federal grants like SBIR and STTR can be a great solution for many. These grants combine to provide over $4 billion annually in support from federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health!!! Despite being a very attractive source of non-diluting capital, they can come with some serious strings attached, particularly for your IP ownership and licensing rights. In this talk, we'll explore these grants and some of their biggest gotchas.
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The InnovatorMD World Congress event brings together physicians and health tech startups from across the globe for three action-packed days filled with influential speakers, compelling discussions, and opportunities to redefine your career.

Time: July 11, 2024, 8:00 AM PDT – July 13, 2024, 1:00 PM PDT
Location: Online via Zoom
Discount: Use the code ASHLEY100 to save $100 on your registration.
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InnovatorMD's mission is to educate clinicians on advances in care delivery models, medical devices, digital health, and pharmaceutical innovation that will help them improve patient care and make their clinical management more efficient, meaningful, and fulfilling. InnovatorMD is composed of 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. Aurora has been working with this wonderful group on Master Classes, Workshops, and WorldCongress events since 2020!
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By: Kristen Hansen

Like George Carlin's Seven Words You Can't Say on TV, there are certain words you shouldn't use in patent applications. The following is meant as a guideline for avoiding the use of certain “patent profanity” terms.  Some of the terms are okay to use with a specific intent and with specific implications, but are best to avoid if you do not know how to use them in that manner. 
 
“Patent profanity” refers to the use of certain words that arguably limit the scope of a claim or alter the meaning because they use absolute phrasing or terms. Often these words are found in the specification section of a patent as well as in the prosecution history.
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Describing an aspect of the invention with an absolute term suggests that the invention is not complete without the aspect. Well drafted patent applications should instead include generic language, variations, alternatives, and examples to identify the broadest possible scope of the invention. In practice, you should:​

​The tables below are not exhaustive, but serve as concrete examples of terms you should never use, terms you should try to avoid, and terms that can only be used with caution if used correctly. We've also made these tables available in a downloadable format on our resources page.

​There are numerous case studies highlighting the significance of patent profanity:

Patent profanity is just one of the many topics pertaining to quality patents that Kristen discussed in her Patently Strategic Podcast episode on quality drafting practices. Check it out below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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By: Josh Sloat

Is your patent a vanity piece of paper for your office wall? Or is it a reliable, defendable, assertable, property right? The difference is often quality.

Is your patent simply a transactional cost and a large pile of legal bills for your startup? Or is it a leverageable asset worthy of attracting precious investment dollars, worth its cost in multiples of valuation? The difference is often quality.

Is your patent application only good enough to get through the examination process? Or has it been crafted to stand the tests of time and varied audiences if you later need to assert that document against an infringer, find yourself litigating with it in an Article 3 Court at the hands of a judge and jury, God forbid, end up having to defend its validity at the PTAB, or even needing to use it to block pirated imports at the International Trade Commission? The difference is often quality.

As an inventor, you cannot leave this to chance or to blind trust in the wrong professional. You’ve put too much into your innovation to come up short when its life depends on the measure of your patent. In the eyes of the patent office, judges, juries, PTAB admins, ITC officials, and IP-savvy investors, it doesn’t really matter how great, novel, or universe-denting your invention is if it is not properly defined and protected by your patent. The difference is often quality.
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Quality will be our focus for a good chunk of the remainder of this season. What goes into a quality patent, and where possible, how do you get it without breaking the bank? In this first episode of our quality series, Kristen Hansen and the panel discuss:​

Kristen is joined today by our always exceptional group, including:

In this month's Mossoff Minute, in honor of celebrating America’s independence, we’re flashing back to our conversation with Professor Adam Mossoff about why patents exist, how the US system differed from all predecessors, and how the Founders’ notions of the core principles of democracy are inextricably linked with the societal good that comes from innovation and intellectual property protection. ​We’re also publishing excerpts as short-form videos on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok.
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Patently Strategic is available on all major podcasting directories, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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.
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