Most hightech startups are aware that a sound patent portfolio is an important asset that helps to defend their future markets and to monetize their ideas. However, the investment needed to build a patent portfolio can be substantial. You need to protect the company in an affordable manner against the copycats that inevitably will surface once the startup has gained momentum. At the same time, investors will back off if your startup is running into problems due to IP rights of competitors.
To avoid pitfalls and find clever solutions, we will:
• discuss typical IP related problems encountered in practice,
• learn why not only patents, know-how and copyrights, but also trademarks and designs are important for startups
• dive into the dos and don’ts of protecting innovations,
• outline the difference between patentability and freedom to operate,
• talk about the use of patents as a source of information
About the speakers:
Claus Peter Pietruk has more than 25 years of professional experience working as a patent attorney in private law firms in Germany and Switzerland representing clients before the Swiss, German and European Patent Office as well as the EuIPO and WIPO. He has advised a large number of startups as well as small and medium sized enterprises and publicly listed companies in all IP related matters. Before becoming a patent attorney, he has studied physics in Karlsruhe.
Christian Moser is a patent expert in life sciences and working at the IPI since 2014. Besides his activity as a professional patent researcher and examiner, he is involved in IPI’s efforts to promote IP awareness at universities and in the private industry. He is a trained veterinarian with a PhD in molecular virology. After his education at the University of Bern and a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania, he spent more than a decade in the Swiss vaccine industry in various scientific and management roles.
