News Release

8-millionth patent awarded by US Patent and Trademark Office

Milestone patent is medical device that bypasses damaged retina, helps blind to see

Business Announcement

University of South Florida (USF Health)

Tampa, Fla. (April 17, 2012) – August 16, 2011 was a big day for the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO). On that day, the USPTO, founded officially in 1836, awarded patent number eight million to Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. of Sylmar, California. The patent was awarded for a retinal prosthetic device that bypasses damaged photoreceptors in the retina by sending electrical stimulus to the retina's remaining cells, which are then transmitted as visual images along the optic nerve to the brain.

In a paper published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation - Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors ®, Ram R. Shukla, PhD, a supervisory patent examiner at the USPTO, not only describes the Argus ® II, the device awarded patent number eight million, but also explains the ins and outs and nuts and bolts of patenting.

Robert J. Greenberg, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Second Sight, Inc., who received patent number eight million along with colleagues, also comments on the benefits of patenting, which include the protection of intellectual property as well as providing a solid foundation for job creation by his company. Second Sight, Inc. has received a total of 90 patents surrounding the technology associated with sight restoration.

"Patent protection and significant federal support for innovation have played key roles in creating nearly 100 jobs at our company," said Dr. Greenberg. "Once the Argus ® II has FDA approval, we expect to create hundreds more jobs over the next few years as we offer a breakthrough treatment for a previously untreatable medical condition."

Dr. Shukla concurs. "We understand that successful commercialization of a medical device and the success of the health care industry are dependent on effective patent protection," wrote Dr. Shulka. "Thus, processing patents faster and more efficiently, and granting quality patents in a shorter amount of time, are crucial for the success of small businesses and entrepreneurs."

Among the items of advice and patent "how-to" explanations Dr. Shukla offers in the article to would-be medical device inventors are the difference between utility and design patents; provisional versus nonprovisional applications; classes of medical device patents; the territorial nature of patent rights and; how patent examiners determine novelty and non-obviousness of a claimed invention.

"Drs. Shukla and Greenberg are quite right about the value of medical device patents," commented Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, vice president for research and innovation at the University of South Florida Tampa Bay and president of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (www.academomyofinventors.org). "Not only do patents on medical devices ultimately improve health care by speeding needed and often life saving innovation to the patient's bedside, but the value of medical device innovation to the U.S. economy and to job creation cannot be underestimated."

Dr. Shukla noted that from the USPTO's founding in 1836 it took 75 years to get to patent one million in 1911. Yet, it took just six years to get from patent number seven million to patent number eight million. Since 1836 there have been 220,000 medical devices patented.

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The National Academy of Inventors™ is a 501c3 organization comprised of U.S. and international universities and non-profit research institutes. It was founded in 2010 at the University of South Florida to recognize and encourage inventors with a patent issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of university technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.

The editorial offices of Technology and Innovation are located at the University of South Florida, Office of Research and Innovation, 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 175, Tampa, Florida, 33612. Tel: 1-813- 974-1347. Email TIJournal@research.usf.edu

Media Release by Florida Science Communications, www.sciencescribe.net


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