Posted by Protecting the Intellectual Property for any business, especially for innovative tech companies, is key to become more competitive in the marketplace as well as more attractive for investors. This was the main message explained by all speakers at the three special events celebrated in Spain on October 25, 26 and 27 in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, respectively.
BigML, together with Telefónica and the two law firms FisherBroyles and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, co-organized this event to discuss the importance that patents have in any tech business, explained from three different perspectives: startup, big corporation, and the legal view. The talks analyzed the main differences between the patent protection process for US and European companies, where the regulations in US make it easier than in European countries.
Starting with the startup perspective, Dr. Francisco J. Martín, the Co-Founder and CEO of BigML, provided a talk based on his personal and professional experience on how patents have helped the companies he created. “The companies that file patents receive more funding and support from investors”, highlighted Dr. Martín, based on the study he presented made with PreSeries, which analyzes more than 300.000 tech companies and shows the correlation between companies that file patents during their first years and the amount of funding they receive throughout their lives.
Following up with the perspective of big corporations, Dr. Luis Ignacio Vicente del Olmo, the Return on Innovation Area of Telefónica and Head of Telefónica Patent Office, explained how to manage Intellectual Property within the innovation process, as well as how to protect software-implemented inventions, since by 2020, 50% of the patent applications will be software-implemented. Del Olmo presented both sessions in Madrid and Valencia, whereas the speaker in Barcelona was Antonio López-Carrascoso, Senior Technology Expert at Telefónica Patent Office.
Finally, concluding with the legal viewpoint, Ms. Graciela Gómez Cowger, IP Strategist and CEO at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, and Mr. Micah Stolowitz, IP Strategist at FisherBroyles, addressed why all tech startups should make Intellectual Property an integral part of their market strategy, especially because “VC’s invest in IP, if it’s missing, they simply don’t invest”, pointed out Ms. Gómez. Both IP Strategists emphasized the importance of these intangible assets, an idea that was present in the three talks and which the audience devoted some time to ask related questions during the round table.
If you are hungry for more, please visit our Facebook and Google+ pages to check all the pictures taken at the events in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. The BigML Team looks forward to seeing you all in further editions!
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