Patent Marking for Software-Related Medical Devices

Chris George is a Shareholder Member of the law firm of Hanley, Flight & Zimmerman in Chicago, where he assists Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, midsized companies, and universities in software, electrical, and mechanical technologies. Chris provides a variety of IP services including patent drafting and prosecution, in-house secondment support and strategic advising, patent portfolio development and management, training, brainstorming and IP capture, patent landscaping, licensing, joint ventures, opensource compliance, and other IP counseling. Chris is an author and speaker for the IPO, ABA, and other legal and technical professional organizations on a variety of IP-related topics. Prior to practicing law, Chris worked in the field of computer architecture and is an inventor on a patent related to runtime software optimization.

Chris Karlen is the IP Director for Medtronic’s Structural Heart and Aortic operating unit, overseeing the IP strategy for Medtronic’s portfolio of heart valve products and therapies. As an IP Director with over a decade of in-house experience, Chris leads the SH&A IP team in the development of creative IP solutions that further Medtronic’s mission of alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending the lives of cardiovascular patients. Chris has held multiple leadership roles at Medtronic in Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Mechanical Circulatory Support, Neuromodulation, and IP Transactions. Before joining Medtronic, Chris was Senior IP Counsel at 3M and also worked in private practice at Shumaker & Sieffert and Fish & Richardson. Chris has particular interests and expertise in implementing IP strategies where artificial intelligence, sensors, and imaging are used in medical and industrial applications.

Malashaan Kind is an intellectual property lawyer who support clients in the high technology and life sciences industries. Malashaan has a particular focus on patent prosecution and advising clients on strategies for building IP portfolios that support their business goals, including having substantial experience working with startups to plan and implement their initial patent strategies. She works regularly with medical device and video game companies to identify and protect their innovative IP. Malashaan also provides support as a patent specialist on large litigation matters and M&A deals. Malashaan’s background in physics and computer simulation allows her to quickly conceptualize and understand a wide range of new technology, particularly inventions that apply complex mathematical analysis to understand and affect the state of systems: physical, online, or otherwise. Malashaan has contributed to several published articles on artificial intelligence and IP, including addressing the patentability of inventions using neural networks, regulation of artificial intelligence used in medical devices, and whether an artificial intelligence can be an inventor or author under the law.

Ryan N. Phelan is a registered U.S. patent attorney who counsels and works with clients in all areas of intellectual property (IP), with a focus on patents. As a former technology consultant with Accenture and with a background in computer science and engineering, Ryan has extensive experience in computer system, hardware, and software design, engineering, development, and related technologies. He represents numerous startup and Fortune 500 clients with patent matters in technical areas and industries including artificial intelligence and machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, imaging, medical devices, biometrics data and services, internet and e-commerce, computer networking, data storage and management, encryption and security, mobile telecommunications, consumer electronics, insurance and finance applications, mechanical devices, among others. Ryan is also an adjunct professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law teaching course work on patenting software inventions. He is also a frequent author and contributor to Intellectual Property Owner (IPO) and American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) white papers and articles and frequently writes about AI at his blog PatentNext at patentnext.com.