Last week we had a great all-day #IP workshop for novice innovators. The participants (~25) were members of the MedTech Secrets , a community of Medical technologies developers. Based on the feedback we got, solicited and otherwise, the participants enjoyed both the content itself and the atmosphere. So did I: it was a fun day.
The workshop was in two parts, an academic part and an applicative part, with a lot of Q&A throughout.
After a few words by Ido S., founder of MedTech Secrets (who also defined what material the participants would most benefit from) we kicked off with an introductory lecture on IP by Ilan Riess Ph.D, with a focus on #patents and some basic do's and don'ts. Two important ones are "don't publish" and "go to your patent attorney earlier than you think". Ilan and I are from the medical device department of Ehrlich & Fenster, a patent attorney firm of the Ehrlich Group .
Next, we were treated to a fascinating lecture on IP rights with respect to career management, by Yehuda Neubauer from the ENM IP law firm of the Ehrlich Group . In Israel, rights to inventions by workers tend to belong to the employer, sometimes also after they leave.
Next up, I gave a lecture on IP arranged according to the natural life cycle of a US utility patent, starting with the act of invention and continuing with search, disclosure, drafting, filing, etc. (you get the point). Hopefully, this structure will help retention of the many factoids involved in patent practice.
After lunch (the location, food and all other logistics were managed wonderfully by Marina Doron, our VP of marketing), I gave a lecture on searches, risk analysis & FTO. When risk is the issue, an FTO is not always the best answer, and even when it is, how and when to conduct it can have important consequences.
At this point, we had heard enough theory and moved to application.
We started with a panel with Inbal Landsberg representing investors and Assaf Dekel representing serial innovators, and myself as a patent attorney to discuss how each one of us sees and uses IP in the real world. While we had some scripted questions, we quickly devolved to Q&A from the participants. There was some agreement between the panel members and some disagreement as well. Good.
We finished the day with the "Surprised by IP" simulation developed by Gil Perlberg and myself a few years ago and run by Ilan Riess Ph.D. In this simulation, each group of 4-5 participants served as a management group[ of a small startup, received a budget and over several rounds needed to make decisions regarding R&D, patenting and FTO. Events announced by Ilan and the throw of the die helped mix things up. Lack of funds and restrictions due to company size were important considerations as well. At the end of the simulation, groups were scored based on an investor scoresheet and prizes & recognition were given.
What next?
(a) A same workshop for more cohorts
(b) A more advanced IP strategy workshop
(c) Both