OstomyCure
Johan Järte
I am confident that OstomyCure’s IP is well protected when HØIBERG is involved
“The future of OstomyCure depends on our ability to protect the products that will generate income for our company and prevent competitors from creating a workaround solution,” begins Dr Johan Järte, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, CEO & CMO at OstomyCure.
“I’m confident that our IP is well protected when we are working with HØIBERG. Building a business based on IP is all about trust — otherwise, I would be nervous all the time. I’m confident that HØIBERG’s attorneys think outside the box and protect every smallest detail.”
OstomyCure, a 15-year-old medical technology company, has developed a revolutionary technology in stoma therapy for ileostomy patients, allowing for a more carefree life for patients who suffer from intestinal diseases.
HØIBERG creates and nurtures an efficient IP portfolio that aligns with our business goals
OstomyCure’s relationship with HØIBERG goes back several years. When OstomyCure started its partnership with HØIBERG, the company already had an extensive patent portfolio.
Initially, HØIBERG assessed OstomyCure from the top down before carrying out an overall review and optimisation of their IP portfolio to ensure it aligned with their business plans, future goals, and financing.
“Streamlining our patent portfolio gives us the ability to invest in other parts of our portfolio and revenue generating products, as well as to prolong our patent protection. Our IP portfolio now serves our specific business goals,” he concludes.
We value HØIBERG’s proactive approach
Before partnering with HØIBERG, OstomyCure worked with a different patent agency.
“What we value with HØIBERG is their proactive way of doing business and working together in a close business relationship. Our former patent agency was good, but they only did what they needed to do, what we asked them to do,” Johan Järte recalls.
“HØIBERG truly enjoys interacting with and growing alongside their clients. They not only understand the IP but also our business. They come up with suggestions for the future and solutions for how we best invest in the company,” Johan Järte explains.
HØIBERG has extensive experience with the start-up environment
“When working with start-ups, it is important to understand their continuous need for funding. Small companies rarely have large bank accounts set aside for product development and investment, instead, they directly utilise the funding they have raised”, Johan Järte explains.
“HØIBERG has extensive experience with the start-up environment. They understand the daily problems of small companies, especially regarding finding the money to develop our business, and that every decision, small or big, is about prioritisation.”
HØIBERG are experts within the life science and medical device industries
HØIBERG’s extensive experience with medical devices and the life science industry is extremely valuable for Johan Järte.
“HØIBERG are very experienced in medical devices. They know all the details surrounding the specific devices, and they are experts in the legal setup around a device. They were, for example, aware that the EU is moving from directive to regulation in medical devices, from MDD to MDR.”
OstomyCure provides HØIBERG with prototypes to allow them an in-depth understanding of the development and technical features of their new products. OstomyCure and HØIBERG’s close relationship and ongoing dialogue, e.g. through the product development phases, pay off when writing and filing new patent applications and deciding on the best overall patent strategy.
HØIBERG are very skilled at providing cost-effective solutions
“Besides being experts in the legal setup in medical devices and the life science industry, HØIBERG are extremely skilled patent attorneys. They know exactly where to focus the claims, where to draw the boundaries, and what the limits are — combined with a keen understanding of what’s important for us to protect regarding IP, to knowing where we need to be extra cautious of our competitors”.
“HØIBERG is very attentive to the commercial value of our patents — that the cost of protecting our product with a patent won’t exceed the value that the patent in question will generate for us. HØIBERG provides us with suggestions for solutions that can be more cost-effective for us,” adds Johan Järte.
A close business relationship is important
Obviously, professional skills and competencies are imperative for a good business relationship. However, according to Johan Järte, the social skills of the people involved are similarly as important.
“It’s not just a professional attitude and the right knowledge and skillset that are important for a good business relationship. The personal feeling is at least as important. HØIBERG are friendly and easy-going, they have great social skills, and we really enjoy working together. We laugh a lot, actually,” concludes Johan Järte.
OstomyCure - a revolution in stomal therapy
The TIES® Solution created by Ostomycure replaces the permanent ostomy bag with a titanium implant port. An emptying pouch is used when emptying the intestinal waste, the rest of the time the implant port is sealed with a lid. The aim of the TIES® Solution is that stoma patients can go about their normal daily life without the need to constantly wear an ostomy bag.
The TIES® System received a CE marking according to the Medical Device Directive (MDD) in June 2016. To meet the added requirements under the new European Medical Device Regulation (MDR), an extended clinical study is ongoing to gather more data on performance, usability, quality of life and health economics.
OstomyCure addresses a market estimated at 2 billion USD per year.
HØIBERG is located on the Karolinska Institutet Campus alongside life science start-ups
Since 2020, HØIBERG has had offices on the Karolinska Institutet Campus, in the heart of the bustling Stockholm life science scene with numerous life science start-ups located close by. One of the companies in this international start-up environment is OstomyCure – a neighbour to HØIBERG.
Karolinska Institutet Campus is part of the internationally recognized Karolinska Institutet, connecting research centres and hospitals that conduct medical and clinical research, education and treatment at the highest level within the life sciences.
An IP portfolio is like an apple tree — cut down branches to make it bloom
When OstomyCure and HØIBERG began their partnership, OstomyCure already had an extensive patent portfolio that reflected the natural development of the patent history of any company – you patent and expand your IP portfolio as you develop new products. The result can easily become an unnecessarily expensive and inefficient portfolio.
As you are developing new products, you should be optimising your IP portfolio accordingly. The relevance of existing patents should continually be considered, especially when determining the need for new patents. An apple tree must be pruned and trimmed to bloom and grow new shoots — the same is true for an effective IP portfolio.
Get in touch
Want to hear more about how HØIBERG can help your company with your strategic IP approach.
Contact our European Patent Attorney Peter Holm
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