Simply patenting a promising invention is not always enough to launch a successful product. You also need to consider what other existing patents might be out there that cover the same ground as yours, or similar ground. In the landscape of existing patents through which your patent, and your product, have to move, where are the potential landmines? Pam Ancona, who is currently head of Intellectual Property (IP), Molecular Customer Area, at Roche Molecular Solutions, notes that “it’s not just getting patents, but also respecting other companies’ patents … It’s not good enough to just file patent applications on the things that the inventors are coming up with around new drugs, new compounds, et cetera. As that drug proceeds through development and approaches commercial launch, you have to look to see, does anybody else have a patent out there that covers this thing. … That’s pretty important because what you don’t want to have happen is you launch [your product] and then all of a sudden, you get sued. It’s nice to know that that suit is coming. If it’s going to come, you have some defenses. … You have to know that where you’re headed, you might have some litigation in front of you.” The technical term for this is “freedom to operate,” or in simple terms, “looking for other people’s patents that might cover what we’re thinking of commercializing.”
