In 2007, Dr. Modi and I decided our device was ready to be patented. Our micro-needle had performed incredibly well in recent tests and a patent would grant us a right as the inventor to exclude others from making, selling or using the invention for a period of time. Given the unique features of our technology and the results we were seeing, this was a prudent next step for us.
Gowling WLG, based out of Hamilton, Ontario, is a worldwide patent law company with roots going back to 1887. They have become one of the largest and most respected law firms in Canada and have helped Dr. Modi patent previous inventions. One would be hard-pressed to find a more seasoned firm to help navigate negotiations with the patent examiners of various countries. Proving to be of great value to us, we also discovered their talent in writing a strong patent that would obtain the necessary approvals.
The first item of business was to search for all prior patent science. It was interesting to discover that many earlier patents reviewed over the previous 50 years have tried to enter the skin only. Most were intricate devices that had many parts and were therefore very complicated. Most had complex ways to enter the skin and would be very expensive.
What made our device novel is that we have only nine moving parts to achieve a painless injection into the skin. That is the strength of Dr. Modi’s intellect – to come up with a unique device that can easily and painlessly enter the skin. We drew all the individual parts and gave them to the attorney to draw up in “Patent Configuration.” Extensive discussions took place to describe the function and movement of each component. The material was selected for each piece as we moved through our testing.
After multiple write-ups, a final draft was completed. We chose to apply to Canada and U.S. patent departments first. Formal submittals were made and it took several years to finalize our efforts with the two countries. Once our claims were found to be sound and we obtained conditional approval, the patents were then publicized to see if any other country could object. In 2009, our claims were approved and we were issued with our first patent in Canada, followed by the U.S. in 2013. This proved that our patents were strong, and we could now proceed with patents in other countries.
Since then, the PKA SoftTouch Micro-Needle has been granted a total of 21 patents in the following countries: Canada, United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, India, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. We also have patents pending in Argentina and Brazil.
PKA SoftTouch Corp. is a leading-edge research and development company that has created a unique proprietary device; the PKA SoftTouch Micro-Needle. This revolutionary device will replace the syringe for pharmaceutical, health care and veterinary industries by offering a precise, pain-free medication delivery in a safe and effective manner.
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