Look Outside Your U.S. Comfort Zone to Patent Diagnostics?

Most tech transfer offices pursue a U.S.-centric approach to patenting. Patent protection is only sought outside the country when a licensee is willing to subsidize the expense. This approach usually makes sense, because of the U.S.'s very significant market, and relatively affordable and reliable patenting. However, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on patent eligibility have created a more challenging environment for diagnostic inventions. In this session, we will discuss the prospects for obtaining sufficient U.S. patent rights, and the merits of using a different patent strategy for diagnostic inventions in which U.S. foreign patent protection is the goal.