USPTO Unveils IP Platform to Connect Innovators of New Products and Technologies for the Prevention, Treatment, and Diagnosis of COVID-19 with Potential Licensees

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently unveiled a web-based intellectual property (IP) marketplace platform to provide the public with a searchable source of patents and published patent applications related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are available for licensing. The new platform, Patents 4 Partnerships, will help facilitate the licensing and commercialization of innovations in key areas of technologies and disseminate valuable patent information.

The platform could assist in the battle against the coronavirus by helping to bring to the marketplace new products and technologies for the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of COVID-19. The platform illustrates how innovation can contribute to the critical health emergency by connecting patent owners who want to license their IP rights with those who can turn those rights into solutions for our health and wellbeing. Patents 4 Partnerships allows users to search and sort information in a variety of user-friendly options, including by keyword, inventor name, assignee, and issue date.

Regardless if an innovative idea is big or small, it is important to utilize a trustworthy attorney with the knowledge and skill necessary to develop and implement a suitable intellectual property strategy to protect the idea.  Patent law is national in scope and is not state or county regulated. By its very nature, it encompasses the entire country, which is important in that the protection a client is seeking for their invention will also be national in scope. Therefore, a patent law attorney does not need to be admitted to practice law in the same state as the individual or business entity that is seeking patent law services.

Michael Cummings is a partner in our New York office where he leads CMDA’s intellectual property litigation practice.  Mr. Cummings provides cost-efficient representation, focusing on clients’ business interests and using technology and appropriate staffing to litigate effectively while driving down costs.

Mr. Cummings has over twenty years of experience litigating patent and intellectual property cases in U.S. District Courts throughout the country, including appeals to the Federal Circuit Court and investigations in the U.S. International Trade Commission.  He has successfully represented numerous Fortune 100 companies.  He has previously litigated for Am Law 100 firms and for one of the U.S.’s premier intellectual property boutiques.  His cases have involved patents in the areas of computer hardware, software, telecommunications, consumer electronics, semiconductor design and manufacture, standards, microprocessor design, e-commerce, electro-mechanical controls, lasers, optics and storage technology.  Mr. Cummings’ practice includes counseling clients in strategic planning and in complex licensing transactions.  He has prosecuted patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.