Intellectual Property (IP) is a valuable asset that is included in a company's
"balance sheet" and provides additional valuation to a company. For early stage
and small companies, IP may be the company's sole or primary asset
base.Intellectual Property includes patents, trademarks, service marks,
copyrights, and trade secrets. This value-added asset can be sold, bought and
traded as a part of everyday commerce.It is important for a company to know what
IP it has and how to enhance the company's IP position which, in turn, enhances
the company's valuation.Patents are often the most valuable IP asset for most
companies. Strictly speaking there are three types of U.S. patents:(1) Design
Patents (for example, an ornamental design for an article of manufacture) (2)
Plant Patents (for example, an asexually produced flower or plant) (3) Utility
PatentsThe most common patent for technology-based companies are utility
patents. Utility patents are granted to inventors according to the Patent Act,
which can be found at Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) and states as
follows:"Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof, may obtain a patent therefore, subject to the conditions and
requirements of this title." (35 U.S.C., ?101)Equally as important as what is
patentable is what is not patentable. What are not patentable are:(1) Laws of
nature (2) Physical phenomena (3) Abstract ideas (4) Products of
natureHowever, what constitutes patentable subject matter has come under broad
interpretation as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Diamond vs.
Chakraborty (1980), which established that companies or individuals could
receive utility patents for newly created organisms. Since then, the
biotechnology industry has argued that patents should issue on genes, proteins
and other natural materials which have commercial value.Primarily as an effort
to boost U.S. eminence and competitiveness to the then fledgling but growing
biotech industry, shortly after the Diamond vs. Chakraborty decision the U.S.
Patent Office (USPTO) began issuing patents on products of nature including
genes (human or otherwise), gene fragments, cell lines, proteins and other
naturally occurring substances.As a result of increasingly growing criticism,
the USPTO has recently issued utility patent guidelines and rules regarding a
stricter definition of what is invented or patentable. These new guidelines and
rules call for utility patents to have "specific and substantial utility that is
credible."No longer will it be sufficient to claim that a particular biological
or molecular probe (DNA, protein, etc.) to be a useful probe, the new utility
test calls for specific utility regarding that particular molecular probe (i.e.,
a probe for a particular gene, a probe for a specific disease state or a probe
for a defined location on a chromosome).In addition, it is no longer acceptable
to make general claims regarding utility and usefulness. For example, it will
not be acceptable to claim that a protein is a source of amino acids or a feed
supplement or a dietary supplement, but real-world utility must be specified and
demonstrated.The new utility patent guidelines and rules will have a profound
effect on the biotech and related industries.Visit www.BusinessOfScience.com for
additional information concerning Intellectual Property and the business of
science and technology.Louis M. Scarmoutzos, Ph.D., or "Dr. Lou" as his
colleagues and friends fondly call him, is President & Founder of MVS Solutions,
Inc., a corporate and technology development company focused on the biotech,
chemistry, pharma, medical and related industries.Dr. Scarmoutzos received his
B.S. cum laude in Chemistry from Boston College, a Ph.D. summa cum laude in
Physical Organic Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University and was a
Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at
Harvard University. Dr. Scarmoutzos serves as a Principal Advisor to the Los
Angeles Research and Technology Association (Larta) Life Sciences Technology
Group and a Principal Advisor in the National Institutes of Health
Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP). Additional info about Dr.
Scarmoutzos and MVS Solutions may be found at http://www.mvssolutions.com or via
email at LScarmoutzos@mvssolutions.com.
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