The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched a new platform that could expedite the development of COVID-19 related technologies. As explained in the USPTO's press release, the Patents 4 Partnerships web-based marketplace is designed to “facilitate the voluntary licensing and commercialization of innovations in a variety of key technologies” related to “the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of COVID-19.”
The Patents 4 Partnerships IP marketplace platform currently lists 175 granted U.S. patents and pending U.S. patent applications, covering such diverse technologies as “Methods of Treating Coronavirus Infection,” “Air-Sampling Device and Method of Use,” “Rapid and Highly Fieldable Viral Diagnostic,” and “Dexterous Humanoid Robotic Wrist.” According to the press release, the initially listed items were “drawn from a variety of public sources, including the USPTO, the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC Business), the AUTM Innovation Marketplace (AIM), universities, and a number of federal agencies.”
Stakeholders wanting to add their U.S. patents or applications to the Patents 4 Partnerships platform can complete this simple form. As noted on the form, the technology should be “reasonably related to the prevention, treatment, diagnosis, protection from or alleviation of symptoms of coronaviruses in general.” For assistance identifying items in your patent portfolios that could be promoted in this new marketplace, please contact your Foley relationship partner or the Foley attorney listed below.
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Originally published Foley & Lardner, May 2020
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