Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Seaport West

155 Seaport Boulevard

Boston, Massachusetts 02210

Telephone 617.439.2000

nutter.com

Building Your IP Strategy

November 18, 2014

Michael Curley, Thermedical, Inc.

Heather Repicky, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Derek Roller, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

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What is an IP Strategy?

Short

Term

Business

Goals

$

Long Term

Business

Goals

Marketplace

&

Competitors

Technical

Need

Timing

A roadmap of how IP will support the business

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An IP Strategy Should Identify:

• Offensive uses of IP – Create barriers to entry for

competitors

• Defensive uses of IP – Keep control of the important

aspects of the business

• IP assets – How the IP portfolio can build value

• IP liabilities – How to avoid potholes

What is an IP Strategy?

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Types of Intellectual Property

• Patents

• Trademarks/Trade Dress

• Copyrights

• Trade Secrets

• Employment Agreements & NDAs

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Patents

“Whoever invents or

discovers any new and

useful process, machine,

manufacture or composition

of matter, or any new and

useful improvement thereof,

may obtain a patent . . . . ”

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Patents

• First-to-file system

• 20 year term

• On-sale/Public disclosure bar

• Territorial rights

• $$

4 Basic Patent Issues Will Immediately Come Into

Play As You Are Developing Your IP Strategy

First-to-File

• Not necessarily a rush to

USPTO

• IP evaluation system

• File patent

vs.

Defensive publication

• Extra care if under first-to-

invent

• Early provisionals an option

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Ways to Expedite Patenting Process

• Track One Prioritized

Examination

• Accelerated Examination

• Patent Prosecution Highway

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Trademarks and Service Marks

Definition: word, phrase, symbol, or

design that is used to identify the

source of goods/services and to

distinguish them from others

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Trademarks and Service Marks

• Think about developing a brand

• Clear your mark

• Consider filing for trademark registration,

even if you have not begun using the mark

Quick Tips for Trademark Issues:

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Copyrights

• Requirements: Original work of author

• Ownership: Author, unless work made for hire

• Open Source Issues

Not just relevant

to painters and novelists.

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Trade Secrets

Definition: (1) Information that derives an

economic value and is not readily

ascertainable, and (2) reasonable effort

is made to maintain secrecy

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Employment Agreements & NDA’s

• Ownership of IP

• Non-competition Agreements (jurisdictional)

• Use of NDAs with vendors/suppliers

• Spend time coming up with a description that

doesn’t reveal your trade secrets but shows

the company value

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Saline-Enhanced RF (SERF™) Ablation

A Therapy Platform

Michael G. Curley, Ph.D.

Conventional RF Ablation

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RF Current

Heating Field

Conventional RF Ablation

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Charring at Electrode

Small

Treatment

Volume

RF Ablation Challenge

Saline Enhanced RF (SERF™) Ablation

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Cool Saline

In-line

Saline Heater

Warm

Saline Injection

RF Energy

Treats 100 times the volume

of RF ablation alone

Thermedical Background

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SERF™ Ablation for Liver Cancer

• 1.7M liver cancer incidence

• 80% have no therapeutic options

•SERF Ablation will be curative

Platform Technology

SERF System

Liver Cancer Needle

Saline Enhanced RF (SERF™) Ablation

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Results: Porcine Liver

RF Only SERF

Ventricular Tachycardia

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VT is a fatal arrhythmia

• 600,000 new cases / year

Treated with ICDs

• Painful

• Expensive - costs > $ 75,000

• $ 7B annual WW Market

Preclinical SERF Research

• Transmural lesion demonstrated without

cardiac perforation

SERF will be curative for VT

• Inexpensive - cost < $ 20,000

Thermedical History

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$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

Money R

ais

ed (

$M

)

Year

Investment

Grants

First US Patent Awarded

First Meeting on IP Strategy

Discussion Topics

• Development of an IP

strategy

• Use of IP in fundraising

• Working IP into the

culture

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• Anticipating changes to

business goals

• Building the portfolio

intelligently

• Role of IP in exit

strategy

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Questions?