Joshua Goldberg, Co-Managing Partner at Nath, Goldberg & Meyer, sat down with me to discuss key intellectual property issues and pitfalls in the digital health space, the importance of international patent protection, and why it’s important to reduce the patent approval process from the typical 2-4 years to just 1 year (and how to do it!).
Here is a sneak peek of our conversation:
Q: We hear about platforms like Github where there’s shared code and open code, and there’s a whole philosophy and culture around that. How do we balance the need for patent tradability or IP protection, while at the same time trying to foster innovation in a really rapid and efficient manner?
A: Sure. That’s a really excellent question! A lot of people spend a lot of time looking into it and trying to figure out the best way. There’s no perfect solution. What I can say is, if you are working on something innovative, unless it really is something that’s done in collaboration with multiple people in multiple places, you’re going to want to try to do something to file on it before you put it out there.
What we often do when we have a client that comes to us and says, “Hey I have this new invention, this new technology I created and I’m going to publish on it or I’m going to speak about it in one week, two weeks, three weeks.” Whatever that timeframe is, we say, “Alright that’s fine, not a problem. We can file what’s called a provisional application for you – something very quick. We can get it done in one or two days. That reserves your spot at the Patent Office. That gives you one year to do something more – develop the idea further, prepare a full patent application, whatever it is you need to do. So that even if you publish or speak within that one year, you can still go back to that provisional application filing date and you’re okay.”
For more of our discussion, you can watch the whole Fireside Chat with Joshua Goldberg, or listen to the podcast version, below.
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About Impetus Digital
Impetus Digital is the spark behind sustained healthcare stakeholder communication, collaboration, education, and insight synthesis. Our best-in-class technology and professional services ensure that life science organizations around the world can easily and cost-effectively grow and prosper—from brand or idea discovery to development, commercialization, execution, and beyond—in collaboration with colleagues, customers, healthcare providers, payers, and patients.