Yearly Archives: 2011

Private Sector Leads Innovation in Health Care Information Technology

Dr. Don Berwick, who until last week served as administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has a handful of central tenets about changing health care for the better. Perhaps his two most interesting from a start-up perspective are:

    • “Start at scale. Pilots will not suffice;” and

 

    • “Act locally. Every community must mobilize.”

 

Coming from a person who was recently in charge of a half-billion-dollar budget and whose life’s work has been to promote efficiency in health care, these words should excite the growing “Smart Health” start-up community. “Smart Health” entrepreneurs are using the web, mobile apps, cloud computing and social networking technology to help educate people about health issues, give access to medical information and increase knowledge of individual behavior so that scientists and health experts can understand the “whys” and “hows.”

SegTerra utilizes blood biomarkers to help customers achieve their fitness and health goals. Customers have their blood tested 2-4 times a year to determine whether diet, exercise, or medical intervention would help them improve health outcomes.

Meanwhile, Anthurium Solutions, Inc. provides a software solution that helps patients with chronic health conditions match with healthcare professionals and service provider “coaches” that help them manage their conditions better. This outpatient management can lower healthcare costs by helping patients manage their symptoms proactively, reducing emergency and in-patient treatment expenses.

Many other companies (including Google) are considering means of storing data and helping individuals understand their medical choices. While the public sector’s ability to implement change has been called into question, there is reason to hope that private sector innovation may once again lead the way to efficiency.

This post on Health Care was authored by Caitlin Vaughn.

FoundersCard

FoundersCard is a global membership community of leading entrepreneurs. Members enjoy access to frequent invitation-only networking events held throughout the year, as well as exclusive benefits from companies serving the needs of entrepreneurs and their businesses.

To be fast-tracked a guest preview of the benefits of FoundersCard membership, enter referral code FCGOODWIN when submitting a Membership Inquiry.

This post was authored by Founders Workbench.

SEC Alleges Securities Law Violations Against Private Company in Connection with Share …

On December 12, 2011 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Stiefel Laboratories Inc. (“Stiefel Labs” or the “Company”) and Stiefel Labs’ former chairman and CEO, with fraud in connection with the Company’s repurchases of its stock from employees and former employees between 2006 and 2009.  The SEC charged that Stiefel Labs repurchased its stock at undervalued prices and failed to disclose material, non-public information that affected the value of its stock and would have impacted its employee-stockholders’ decision to sell shares back to the Company. Read more.

This post was authored by Founders Workbench.

Founders Flash

This week’s articles highlight the advantages of LinkedIn for career management, provide advice on establishing a vision for your company, discuss the problems caused by an influx of capital, and feature an interview with the creator of Kind bars. 

LinkedIn SVP Deep Nishar’s Three Career Tips For Novice Networkers – Austin Carr, Fast Company

LinkedIn has become a career management resource for 135 million users, and everyone from high school students to elderly retirees should take advantage.

Do You Have a Vision For Your Company? Are You Sure? – Robert S. Kaplan, Inc.

You know you have a vision for your company. So why are so many employees unsure what it is?

VCs Predict: It’s Frothy Out There, Obama Gets a Second Term – Victoria Barret, Forbes

Has it become too easy to raise capital?

Healthy Craving Feeds ‘Kind’ Bars – Sarah Needleman, Wall Street Journal

Q&A with Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind LLC, a New York purveyor of snack bars and more.

This post was authored by Founders Workbench.

Boston Holiday Tech Co-Party 2011

Goodwin Procter was thrilled to sponsor the Boston 2011 Holiday Tech Co-Party last night. We had a great time supporting the dozens of tech start-ups that make up Boston’s stellar start-up ecosystem. Thanks to Dave Bisceglia, Ben Carcio, Brent Grinna, Ryan Light, Nick Tommarello, Raj Aggarwal, Ben Maitland-Lewis, and all of the other hosts for organizing a fantastic evening. Special thanks to @santaclaus for showing up and putting everyone in the holiday spirit!

TechCoParty 2011
 

This post was authored by Founders Workbench.

Provisional Patent Applications

You have a great idea: a new business model, a new product, or an improvement on some existing process.  You want to tell the world – or at least some prospective investors. You want to get your new business up and running as fast as possible.  That usually means talking to potential customers and maybe even launching a website.  But how can you protect the idea from being copied?  Ask most people and they’ll tell you to “Patent it!!”

That’s easier said than done.  Simply put, patents take a long time to issue (although there are some shortcuts), they are expensive to acquire, and they require using a patent lawyer.  How then does a start-up company operating on a shoestring budget protect its valuable intellectual property without losing focus on what is really important – building a better mousetrap?

Since 1995, inventors have had the option of filing a “provisional” application.  Unlike a full utility application, provisionals do not require claims, nor do they need to follow any particular format.  Provisionals are not examined, do not become public (unless a subsequent utility application is published), and do not grant the applicant any enforcement rights.  Filing a provisional application essentially puts a stake in the ground, securing its filing date as the priority date for later-filed applications.  Within a year of the provisional filing, you then must file a complete utility application, which will be examined and, hopefully, mature into an issued patent.

With the transformation of the United States into a first-to-file jurisdiction, provisionals have become even more important, as patent applicants race to be first to the Patent Office.  It remains critical, however, that provisionals include enough disclosure to adequately “teach” others how to practice the invention – a goal that is achieved by working closely with a patent attorney.  For certain technologies, such as life science and pharmaceuticals, provisionals may need significantly more disclosure compared to other technology areas to ensure that possible patent protection is maximized.  As an aid, check out this invention disclosure document, which can be used by the inventor to help prepare for a meeting with an experienced patent attorney.

This post on Patents, and Intellectual Property was authored by Founders Workbench.

Founders Flash

This week’s articles highlight crowd-funding platforms for start-ups, the role of Gen-Y in reviving the economy, and the impact of new health care provisions on small businesses. And, a global angel investor  shares some thoughts on lessons learned.

Why Start-Ups Need ‘Crowd-Funding’ – Tom Szaky, New York Times Small Business

Crowd-funding financing platforms can help strapped early-stage ventures, especially social enterprises.

Can Gen-Y’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Revive The Economy? – Dan Schawbel, Open Forum

A new survey shows that 54 percent of millennials want to start a business or already have one. What does it all mean?

What The Health Care Law Will Mean for Your Small Business – Emily Maltby, Wall Street Journal

Key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are set to take effect roughly two years from now.

Serial Entrepreneur Fabrice Grinda On Angel Investing, Brazil And Russia – Robin Wauters, TechCrunch

Internet entrepreneur and angel investor shares his thoughts on investing in emerging markets and general lessons he’s learned as a global angel investor.

This post was authored by Founders Workbench.

Recommendations for Patenting Business Methods Post-Bilski

Business method patents continue to be important assets.  Their significance continues to increase as new applications are developed that use the Internet. 

However, claims to abstract ideas have never been patentable. But what is an abstract idea and what is a business method? That is an issue the courts have contemplated for many years, and is a question that continues to be examined by the courts.

In Bilski, the Supreme Court did not create a rigid formula describing which business methods are patentable and which are not. Therefore, this remains the primary issue to be addressed when drafting business method patent applications. 

So what guidelines should business method patent seekers follow when filing their applications? The Federal Circuit’s “machine-or-transformation” test is one test to apply to business method patents.  To satisfy this test, patent claims should include some physical structure.  It is also recommended that the specification include some disclosure that also meets the machine-or-transformation test.

This post on Patents was authored by Paul Davis.