June 30, 2020
Foresight's Message: 


Happy (and safe) 4th of July Holiday ! 



We hope everyone is enjoying some time off, even though  vacation and travel may be somewhat limited this year.  We are having a wonderful summer here in the Bay Area so far, while offices are still closed and we are all working remotely.

As many of our readers know, we like to deliver webinars, many of them to international audiences. This easily accessible mode of content delivery, made possible through technology, has become a reality for many people during recent quarantine times as a replacement for in-person events. This month we are highlighting a series of webinars that we have delivered over the last few years through our affiliates at the EU-Japan Office. These one-hour webinars cover some of the most common areas of interaction with our clients: IP Valuation, IP Fundamentals for Startups and SMEs and Financial Modeling for Startups.  

Also in this newsletter is our usual coverage of IP News, where we are still seeing interesting COVID-19 related developments such as the questions around the ownership of the patenting rights to the Moderna vaccine, as well as the latest innovations in data science and sequencing techniques that could with diagnostics and treatment.  We also feature the most recent blog in our series on IP damages, dealing with an interesting court decision related to damages awards in trademark cases.

Enjoy Summer & Stay safe and healthy!

Warmly, 

Foresight Webinar Highlights InTheMedia



 

Over the past 3 years, we have created a series of annual webinars for the EU-Japan Tech Transfer Helpdesk at the Centre for Industrial Cooperation, an organization dedicated to the promotion of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.  Below are links to those webinars, which are free to access on YouTube.


The alignment of companies' intellectual property (IP) with their business strategy is critical for the effective monetization of their innovation. Having a clear understanding of the value of IP rights and commercialization options helps companies successfully introduce new technologies into the marketplace.



Intellectual property assets are frequently the most valuable assets for high-tech or life sciences startups, and other small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Companies often struggle with how best to manage and grow their IP portfolio to adequately protect their core ideas and products, while simultaneously increase corporate value and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The webinar is targeted at startups and SMEs seeking to understand the value of their intellectual property as a strategic business asset, throughout the lifecycle of a business from the early stage to exit.


Telling your story with numbers - building a fundable financial model for your startup

Looking to build a fundable financial model for your startup, but don't know where to start? You are not alone.... creating a set of realistic financial projections is one of the most daunting tasks for most founders! And yet, it is critical to effectively communicate funding needs and valuation expectations to investors and potential business partners, while at the same time serving as an important tool to prioritize spending and guarantee the economic survival of your startup.
Click here for Webinar

Foresight Blog Highlights ForesightBlog




In the midst of the COVID pandemic, the Supreme Court resolved an issue that was split evenly between the circuit courts. The issue before the Court was whether the Lanham Act, which is the federal statute governing trademarks, required a plaintiff to prove that the defendant had willfully infringed their trademark before the plaintiff could recover the infringer's profits. In a surprisingly unanimous decision, the Supreme Court in  Romag v. Fossil  held that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff's trademark as a precondition to a profits award.

Full article here 

IP News Digest  IPNewsDigest

   

Bill Aims to Stop Theft of U.S. University Research 

New legislation aims to stop China and others from stealing U.S. taxpayer-funded research at universities by enhancing the authority of federal agencies to monitor and punish the schools and scientists.  The bill follows renewed alarms from the White House and U.S. agencies over Beijing's alleged attempts to tap U.S. universities to boost China's military and technological competitiveness.
Full article here

Fighting COVID-19 Using Data Science
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences  (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) grantees and in-house scientists are lending their expertise in data integration and online tool development to explore how COVID-19 spreads and why some communities experience higher risk of infection. The projects described below represent just some of the diverse research underway at SRP centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full article here

Finjan Enters into Agreement to be Acquired by Fortress in an All Cash Transaction
Finjan Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNJN) (Finjan) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the "Merger Agreement") pursuant to which affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (collectively "Fortress") would acquire all outstanding shares of Finjan common stock for $1.55 per share in cash (the "Transaction"), representing an aggregate equity value of approximately $43.9 million. Finjan, a recognized pioneer in the development of cybersecurity technologies, will maintain its brand and business model post-transaction, licensing and enforcing a substantial patent portfolio that has been consistently upheld by courts and patent offices.
 Full article here

Illumina Debuts Next-Gen Sequencing Test for COVID-19
Illumina received an emergency authorization from the FDA for its COVID-19 test designed to sequence the full genome of the novel coronavirus.  Using the company's high-throughput NovaSeq 6000 hardware, the diagnostic COVIDSeq Test is capable of processing over 3,000 samples at once, taken from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs. Results are provided within 24 hours.
"COVIDSeq leverages the performance of [next-generation sequencing] to help address the global need for diagnostic testing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic," Illumina CEO Francis deSouza said in a  statement. 
Full article here

The NIH Claims Joint Ownership of Moderna's Coronavirus Vaccine
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) may own intellectual property that undergirds a leading coronavirus vaccine being developed by Moderna.   NIH and Moderna have researched coronaviruses, like MERS, for several years, and  signed a contract  this past December that stated "mRNA coronavirus vaccine candidates [are] developed and jointly owned" by the two parties. The contract was not specific to the novel coronavirus, and it was signed before the new virus had been  sequenced .
Full article here


Upcoming Events  Upcomingevents
 

LES Webinars



 LES Webinar: IP Taxation Strategy

Date: June 30th 2020
Time: 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET
More information here