Ask me any IP / patent questions

So this is more contracts law than IP/patents, and if it’s very important you should talk to a lawyer.

Generally, there’s nothing to stop someone suing another entity or person. So, I think it’s best to reduce that chance generally (not antagonising someone that might sue, clearly being able to show that you didn’t do anything improper etc).

If someone just wants to make your life miserable, starting a lawsuit is a good one, especially if there’s a huge imbalance in resources like you have here.

I’d say code overlap is only a small part of the consideration.

In Australia (where I’m from and studied/worked), whether your employer owns something that you made “outside of work” is based on how related that thing is to what you’re employed to do. So if you’re a janitor at Microsoft and you develop some software, Microsoft probably doesn’t have a strong argument. If you’re working on a new version of Excel and then you develop your own spreadsheet, they will probably have something to say about that and for good reason. That’s in Australia though. Can’t say about the US, or wherever you are.

If you’re concerned and it might affect your business / startup, do your own research on the topic and speak to a lawyer. It will probably save you a lot of anxiety and pain down the line.

No, generally speaking if you can prove that you’ve been doing something before the relevant date of the patent, you’ll not be found to infringe.

Patents are not meant to stop people from doing what they’ve been doing previously, they’re meant to stop people from copying new inventions.

Yeah I haven’t done much biotech at all as my background is things that can be hit with a hammer :) (mech eng).

But afaik, patenting of things like antibodies or genes are related to the not “naturally occurring” components, like in isolated sequences, method of isolating them, or their use for instance.

As to what is a “natural phenomenon” or “naturally occurring”, vs not... who knows, and I guess that’s one of the reasons that it’s a controversial area of law, and is still evolving (no pun intended). It’s also very different between jurisdictions... not to mention policy or social implications.

Does that help?

Well, there’s usually just one way to register a trade mark - it’s with the trademark office in the jurisdiction that you are interested in. It might be the USPTO in the US or EUIPO in Europe for example.

I would say that: generally, go through a proper trade marks attorney to register a mark, even though it costs money.

But before you do that, read about what registered trade marks are, what purpose they serve, and whether the investment is worth it for YOUR business and what you’re trying to achieve.

Remember that various bits of IP are assets that you acquire through investment. It should fit in with your overall business and strategy.

Hi Chris,

Well, it all depends. The scope of a patent is defined in its “Claims” section. I’d start by finding out whether the patent has been granted (or is it merely a patent application), where it’s been filed, and reading the claims.

Without knowing anything about the patent or your app idea, generally it’s unlikely that someone has a patent so broad as to preclude everybody else from an entire field. Based on what you’ve said that, I’d be long way from just giving up on the idea altogether if it were me!

Cheers!