Harness IP Principal Chris Cauble gives an insightful look at the risks and rewards of seeking foreign intellectual property (IP) protection in “Focusing Solely on U.S. Patents Can Be a Risky Move. Here’s Why,” an article published recently by Medical Device News. 

Cauble outlines reasons why medical device developers should – or should not – include foreign protection for their innovations: “There are rewards to a strategy that focuses solely on the U.S. market and U.S. patent protection, but reaping those rewards also involves significant risk.”

The piece gives an overview of how IP protections work in various global markets and outlines costs to consider when filing for protections in foreign jurisdictions. Cauble, based in Harness IP’s Dallas office, cautions innovators to avoid short-sighted decisions that may limit access to overseas markets as well as forfeit IP protections for future iterations of their devices.

“There are many risks and a few rewards to an intellectual property strategy that foregoes patent protection in non-U.S. jurisdictions,” Cauble concludes, advising developers to include their IP professionals alongside marketers and finance personnel when developing a global product deployment strategy.

The article can be accessed on the Medical Device News website.