Foley & Lardner LLP Partner Shabbi Khan was quoted in the Digital Health Business & Technology article titled, “Digital Health-Pharma Relationships Face Intellectual Property Uncertainty,” discussing the lack of clear regulatory guidance for patenting AI generated data and knowledge. Given the increasing number of partnerships between pharma and digital health companies, many industry experts are expecting legal disputes over data ownership and patenting.
Khan expects litigation to “arise in situations where a digital health company felt that a large institutional player used them and took their proprietary information,” noting that “younger startups have less leverage against these bigger players.” He emphasized how companies should always assume that the partnering company is likely watching out for their own interests and filing for protection on future ideas. “If you’re partnering with someone else, you need to continue to protect your IP that you are generating outside of that relationship,” said Khan. “If you ever become dispensable to them, your IP that you own separately can help either bring them back to the table or restrict them from partnering with somebody from a with a competitor.”
