From Idea to Intellectual Property

Plant variety rights: how IP is giving Mother Nature a helping hand

Plant breeding is often a time and resource heavy activity, so it is important that breeders can achieve a return on their efforts.  Plant variety rights (PVRs) or plant breeders rights (PBR) are a form of intellectual property (IP) that protects the work a breeder puts into developing a new plant variety.
As climate change accelerates, plant breeding programs are being used by agricultural businesses to develop plants that are able to cope, and thrive in, the changing environment. By engaging with the IP system, breeders can generate a financial return on the investment they have put into those crops, incentivising the creation of plants which are suitable for a changing environment.
As Dr. Nikki Templeton, Patent Executive at AJ Park explains to host Lisa Leong, a PVR or a PBR is one tool in the kit you can use to protect your variety. Alongside a PVR you also want to be thinking about licensing and commercialisation strategies.  This may require both domestic and international IP strategies, so it’s important to consider this before taking the variety to market.  
It’s a niche IP system requiring in depth knowledge of the intricacies of working with living materials and nature. Gain a better understanding of the ways to obtain IP protection for new plant varieties in the final episode of From Idea to Intellectual Property podcast series.

Femtech: Innovating for women’s health

The rising consciousness of women's health is accelerating female-focused innovation and investment. With many established companies already creating waves in the Femtech space, the untapped potential for innovation is huge. Spanning all areas that affect a woman's physical and emotional wellbeing, Femtech start-ups are thinking big about IP. 
Unravelling the issues surrounding the right mix of protective mechanisms to enable safe manufacturing and scalability is what Spruson & Ferguson Principal, Allira Hudson-Gofers knows a lot about. 
With a background in mechatronics and biomedical engineering, Allira touches on recent technological advances and the data loops that could potentially change how women's health is tracked and monitored. And a whole lot of industries are showing up. This overview provides specific information to help you formulate your Femtech IP journey towards profitability. 
For more insights on the importance of IP in turning ideas into commercial realities, be sure to follow From Idea to Intellectual Property, brought to you by IPH Limited; new episodes will be dropping fortnightly. 

Cleantech: IP’s role in building a sustainable future

What comes to mind when you think of the biggest innovators in cleantech? Obvious examples are electric vehicles, solar batteries, and the use of hydrogen in heavy industrial processes like steel and cement, but this is only the beginning. 
Solving problems sustainably is a booming industry, and bringing these ideas into the wider world is a complex jigsaw, a key piece of which is the protection offered to new inventions by patents. 
In the latest episode of From Idea to Intellectual Property, Spruson & Ferguson Principal Dr Gareth Dixon discusses how patents can be used to "exploit" beneficial technologies related to cleantech, where the number of patents being applied for and granted is increasing exponentially. Finding the fastest route to commercialisation is a key talking point - providing a deeper dive into how to maximise the return on investment. 
For more insights on the importance of IP in turning ideas into commercial realities, be sure to follow From Idea to Intellectual Property, brought to you by IPH Limited; new episodes will be dropping fortnightly. 

Synthetic Biology: Redesigning Organisms for Innovation

Scientists commenced mapping the human genome in 1990, and while we’ve come a long way since then, we’re really only just starting out on the journey of using genetic material to solve problems in medicine, manufacturing and agriculture. 
However, as Griffith Hack Principal Karen Sinclair explains to host Lisa Leong, since mapping genetic material went mainstream, getting granted patent protection for genetic sequences has become more complex. The advent of synthetic biology has facilitated a great leap forward; enabling scientists to redesign sequences to produce replicas or adjusted versions of a biological outcome. And, importantly, to enable the “novelty” and “inventiveness” tests of patent law to be fulfilled. 
The technology comes with its fair share of scientific and ethical conundrums, and Karen explains the vital role of IP both in protecting the investment of the people working in this ground-breaking field, and ensuring ethical boundaries aren’t breached.
For more insights on the importance of IP in turning ideas into commercial realities, be sure to follow From Idea to Intellectual Property; new episodes will be dropping fortnightly.

IP and Sport: A Winning Team

Roger Federer has won USD130m in prize money, but it’s the IP in his brand that’s really built his empire – his 10 year contract with Uniqlo is worth $300m alone, and isn't even dependent on him continuing to play tennis. 
World IP expert Dr Francis Gurry discusses the monetisation of sport, and explains how the sporting ecosystem, comprised of various rights including merchandising, trade marks,  branding, and broadcasting, relies on IP to ensure all parties receive an equitable share of revenue. 
There are cautionary tales too; like Mr Rubik, who didn’t have the money to patent the Rubik’s Cube in Asia, and lost huge royalties as a result. Or the risk of piracy, leading to loss of revenue from selling broadcasting and advertising rights. 
And the future? Francis shares his experience at a recent eSport tournament and his prediction as to whether this is the next new Olympic event! 
For more insights on the importance of IP in turning ideas into commercial realities, be sure to follow From Idea to Intellectual Property, brought to you by IPH Limited, Asia Pacific's leading intellectual property services group.