Start-Up Company IP Resources

It has been a pleasure working with Ken Harrington, Managing Director of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies located within the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. We have worked together to provide resources to start-up companies so that technologies that might otherwise "wilt on the vine" instead become seeds of commercially viable enterprises. Part of this strategy is to provide targeted information resources to innovators so that they can more effectively research legal, business and scientific issues when forming a company.

I provided the links below during presentations at the Olin Business School so that the audiences (finance students and start-up companies) could directly view information that experienced lawyers and investors, among others, consider when creating or evaluating an intellectual property strategy. Many of the following resources are overlooked by entrepreneurs in starting their businesses, and utilizing the information in legal and business models is something that is often lost in classrooms and in books. However, the value of these resources in providing competitive intelligence, regulatory insight and market clarity should be recognized as start-up companies adapt to and evolve with market conditions. It is understood that the listing below is far from complete and the information obtained from these resources should be put in the context of broader legal and business strategies.

Patent Resources

1. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Patent/Application search Old style text-based patent/application searching

2. Google Patent Search The best for text-based searching, and results are shown overlaid on PDF, but remember to review the original publication from the USPTO

3. USPTO Public Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) Many patents have file histories available online - review the "negotiation" between patent examiners and patent applicants to determine what was considered patentable

4. World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Search International patent application search - sometimes patent applications are published internationally before the U.S. and other countries

5. IP News Flash Prior Art Search Quick and dirty patentability/FTO analysis tool (the algorithm can be finicky when utilizing more than one language)

6. USPTO Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership Conferences Better understand how U.S. patent examiners review pending patent applications

7. Chemical Abstracts Sevice STN The best for chemical formula and sequence-based searching of patent/applications and scientific references (subscription required, or $2 fee per search on STN Easy)

Trademark Resources

1. USPTO Trademark Search Old style text-based trademark/application searching

2. DBA and Business Name Registration Search (just a few examples - note that individual states consider business names and trademarks differently (e.g., Illinois)):

Missouri Secretary of State DBA and Business Name search
Illinois Secretary of State DBA and Business Name Search
Illinois Secretary of State Trademark Search
Delaware Secretary of State DBA and Business Name Search
California Secretary of STate DBA and Business Name Search
Hoovers Search tool provided by Dun & Bradstreet, the most comprehensive business information resource

3. BetterWhoIs.com Meta Domain Name (URL) Search Consider the value of a trademark if the URL is not available

4. World Health Organization International Nonproprietary Names Pharmaceutical and biologic generic name parameters and search

5. Consider that common law (unregistered) trademarks might also exist!

Life Sciences Regulatory and Compliance (Small Molecules, Biologics, Medical Devices)

1. MedTechInsight.com Business information and intelligence on new trends, technologies, and companies in the medical device, diagnostics, and biotech marketplace

2. U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Drug Approvals and Databases
Orange Book Approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations
U.S. FDA Paragraph IV Patent Certifications Listing of drugs for which an ANDA has been submitted, and for which a legal opinion stating that the underlying drug patent is invalid or does not cover the branded product has been submitted

3. CMS - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Information about reimbursement in the public payer system

CMS Reimbursement Database Database of reimbursed drugs and medical devices

4. U.S. FDA Medical Device Databases

U.S. FDA 510(K) Premarket Notifications Database of notifications of intent to introduce medical devices in commerce
U.S. FDA PMA Premarket Approval Datebase of FDA-approved medical devices

5. U.S. Department of Agriculture Information about regulation and compliance related to agriculture biotechnology products

6. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Information about regulation and compliance with environmental standards (e.g., Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, etc.)

7. EMEA - European Medicines Agengy European drug approval agency

EPARs for authorised medicinal products for human use

Technology Agreements

1. "Material Agreements" search tools for agreements disclosed by publicly traded companies to the SEC. Agreements between your competitors and potential licensees related to your innovation can be searched:

2. Entire agreements from above: