Do you want to start up a biotech company or secure additional financing? Nice! Do you have a great technology or an innovative product? Even better! But have you thought about how important it is to design and implement your intellectual property (IP) strategy, on which your entire business will be built?
Innovations, models and trademarks are key pillars in any sector, but even more so in biotech. They enhance a company’s distinguishing capacity, boost its impact, strengthen its competitive position and make it more attractive to investors and collaborators. In short, there is every reason to give intellectual property (IP) a prominent place in your company’s business strategy.
Emil Pot, European patent attorney at NLO, says: “It is pretty straightforward that protecting your IP is essential in the biotech business, but to be able to do that properly, you need to design the right IP strategy that aligns your IP portfolio with your R&D strategy and business opportunities. Only by doing this can you maximize the value that you are creating within your company and achieve the optimal financial terms within a collaboration deal or investment.”
Where to find help
With increasing competition in the life sciences sector, the protection of technological innovations has become even more important. NLO, a pioneer in the field, is one of the largest intellectual property consultancies in Europe that focuses on life sciences. They have offices in the Netherlands and Belgium and offer a broad range of IP-related services, such as drafting and filing patent applications and patent prosecution, opposition and appeal proceedings before the EPO; providing advice about patent validity, infringement, trademarks and copyright; patent portfolio management and many more.
NLO’s patent attorneys have extensive experience in the life sciences sector. They specialize in molecular biology, microbiology, immunology, plant and animal genetics, vaccines, antibodies, RNA technology and bioinformatics. Professional knowledge in these fields is necessary to successfully conduct patent prosecutions or FTO analyses. Most of NLO’s patent attorneys have PhDs and large-industry experience; many of them have worked within biopharmaceutical companies. Considering the substantial costs involved in R&D, it is important to have a patent attorney who understands your market from A to Z.
You can meet some of NLO’s experts at BioWin Day on December 8:
- Denis Canet
Qualified as a Belgian, European and French patent attorney, Denis advises clients, from small startups to multinationals, in all fields of life sciences, including pharmaceuticals, green biotechnology, red biotechnology and diagnostics. Before joining NLO, Denis held a position as IP Director with the international pharmaceutical company Besins Healthcare for 7 years. Prior to that, he worked as an IP consultant for several biotech companies in the UK and Switzerland. Denis is engaged in all activities involved in building and maintaining patent portfolios for his clients, for which he can rely on his direct experience in USPTO examinations and interviews as well as in EPO hearings, oppositions and appeals. Over the years, Denis has gained a detailed understanding of pharmaceutical IP lifecycle management, where his expertise ranges from orienting R&D projects using IP landscaping to patent enforcement, such as defending against generic challenges under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Denis also helps his clients with the ins and outs of licensing innovations and multijurisdictional IP tax planning. - Caroline Pallard
Caroline is a Dutch and European patent attorney who specializes in biotechnology (particularly molecular biology), genomics, biochemistry, hematology, immunology and microbiology. Previously, she worked in the patent department at DSM/Gist-Brocades in Delft. Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (1996-1998), where she focused on immunology and biochemistry. Caroline has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting complex patent applications. Caroline frequently advises biotech startups on their IP strategies. She also has experience in supporting clients during complex license negotiations where IP is pivotal and in advising clients before and during the IPO process. - Emil Pot
Emil is a European patent attorney who has wide experience in all aspects of commercializing innovative ideas, ranging from drafting and negotiating license and R&D agreements to preparing business plans and advising startups and innovative companies on their IP strategies. As a co-founder of ActoGeniX NV, he has been actively involved in the company’s business development and corporate legal departments. He was also responsible for building an extensive IP portfolio until ActoGeniX was successfully sold to the US-based Intrexon Corporation in 2015.
