A free to join webinar taking place next month will highlight the importance of healthcare innovators understanding fresh intellectual property (IP) developments which are set to impact how they protect their ideas

The educational session from formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health on Wednesday 26 March is entitled ‘Patenting in Europe: The new framework’ and will help health service forward-thinkers to navigate the new landscape through expert advice.

The ‘lunch and learn’ webinar from 12.00-12.45 — InnoScot Health’s first of 2025 — will be presented by Head of Project Management Gillian Henderson.

She will be joined by guest speaker Julia D'Arcy, Chartered and European Patent Attorney for Harrison IP, specialising in the protection of inventions in the medical, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors.

The webinar will be a great opportunity to acquire knowledge around:

• Evolving patenting requirements amid increasing MedTech demand
• Recent developments including the possible impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine translation on trademarks and designs and the looming European AI Act
• The introduction of the Unitary Patent Convention (UPC) in the EU, allowing for a single European patent to be valid in multiple member countries

Gillian will discuss how InnoScot Health helps the country’s innovators and health boards capture the value in intellectual property, maximise it, and ensure they receive a fair return on investment.

Julia will help innovators to navigate the new landscape while spotlighting approved safeguards by providing an overview of the different types of intellectual property and why understanding each is so important.

The session will be a fantastic opportunity to learn what intellectual property (IP) truly means, its huge importance in healthcare, and why it is so crucial for innovators to protect their novel ideas early.

• Register to attend

Securing the IP rights of the NHS represents one of the cornerstones of InnoScot Health's service offering and the foundation of why the organisation was initially set up.

Gillian said: “InnoScot Health has protected some 260 NHS Scotland inventions and is committed to ensuring innovators get the right IP support and advice.

“We believe that, where health service innovators are concerned, IP is central to the success of healthcare technology. Therefore, learning more and getting the right support and guidance to successfully navigate this often-challenging part of the innovation journey is crucial to ambitions.

“Our webinar offers a chance to share the knowledge and experience we’ve gained over 22 years of working in partnership with NHS Scotland.

“It will provide a very useful overview including what the main types of IP are, how best to protect and leverage your own, and how to avoid infringing someone else's.”

Julia said: “The ever-evolving IP landscape must be reflected by a modern, progressive approach to securing it – one which keeps pace with rapidly evolving technologies.

“Aligning with that ethos, NHS innovators looking to develop progressive medical devices are advised to heighten their knowledge of the current landscape.

“It is essential for them to have good awareness of the most important legislation, case law, and developments such as the Unitary Patent Convention.

“I look forward to taking part in what promises to be an interesting discussion.”

The webinar will be rounded off by an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. Pre-submit your queries for our panel discussion to [email protected].