What you need to know about IP: Essentials for life sciences companies

In working with life science companies across the industry, we have a 360-degree perspective when it comes to intellectual property and see the unique nuances of these companies’ needs as they work through key milestones in their growth, including the creation, acquisition, and the management and protection of IP rights.

How you structure your IP strategy will necessarily depend on various factors unique to your organization and business plan. That being said, there are some essential common considerations that every company should keep in mind, which we’ve set out below.

• Assess your budget. The first step to an IP Strategy at a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) is to determine the budget that you have for IP. What is the budget for this year? What is the approximate budget for the next few years? These are data points that must be factored into your IP strategy.
• Be strategic with filing patents. A sound IP strategy might include a decision to defer filing a patent (while maintaining the confidentiality of an invention). Filing a patent for every innovation within your company is a costly strategy and you want to ensure you are filing for inventions that you expect will be valued by investors and competitors.
• Be mindful of disclosure. Remember any disclosure of your invention (e.g., at a conference, in an abstract, as part of a Q&A in a business meeting) could harm you if the invention has not been covered in a patent application.
• Start early. Deal with any IP ownership issues early (e.g., get assignments executed as soon as the patent is filed or the branding is created). This will help keep your IP budget in check down the road.
• Weigh your pros and cons. There are invariably pros and cons to each IP decision. The best you can do is to do your homework and make a decision that is right for your company, based on the data points available to you (including the IP budget).
• Do your homework. There is a lot of publicly available information that can help inform your decisions on IP strategy. What patents are your competitors filing, and in which countries? For the “big players” in the therapeutic class you’re working in, look at what scope of patents they are seeking and in which countries they are filing. All of this information is publicly available and should be part of your homework.

For more information on the work Torys does to support life science companies, reach out to our team.

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