85 - A Cohort of Inventors and Their Medical Patent Filings and Patent Abandonment: A Cause for Concern

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of medical patent filings, issuances and abandonment by inventor members of the Society Interventional Radiology (SIR).

Materials and Methods: A cohort of 3,892 members were identified from the 2019 membership registry of the SIR. Espacnet a web-based searchable patent database with entries from worldwide patent granting authorities, was searched for medical patent filings from SIR members. Information on patent filing registrations for 349 members was unable to be identified from the database resulting in a study cohort of 3,543 members. Patent filings on inventions registered for multiple geographic locations were counted as one filing and the total number of patent filings and patents issued were counted. The number of SIR inventors having one or more filings and one or more patents were also counted. The reasons that patents were not issued were reported where information was available. Follow-up information on the active status of patents issued to SIR’s international inventor members (n=28) was unavailable. The active status of 172 patents issued to US inventors and the reasons for inactivity or abandonment were reported.

Results: At the time of the review, 535 patent filings were registered by 157 inventors (4.4%) of the study cohort. Of the 535 filings, 200 patents (37.4%) were issued involving 39.5% (62/157) of the inventors. Patents were not granted to 335 filings from 95 members. Examinations were underway for 32 filings docketed as new cases and awaiting a final decision by examiners. Patent filings were also subjected to requests for further information (n=9) or referred to substantive examination by examiners (n=4) resulting in further delays and administrative burden. The main reason that patents were not granted to inventors was a failure to respond to granting office action in follow-up after their filing (n=87). Of the 172 patents issued to 55 US member inventors, 54 patents (31.4%) were inactive or abandoned. A common reason (n=44) for patent abandonment by holders was a failure to pay maintenance fees during the scheduled maintenance cycle. One patent was reported to be expired beyond the 20-year patent enforcement period.

Conclusion: Inventors among the SIR membership are a small group who experienced low rates of patent issuance for their filings and difficulties maintaining their issued patents. Support and assistance for inventive members is needed to reduce the loss of medical invention patents that could potentially improve interventional practice, patient healthcare and member initiative and well-being.