Details

Project title: Dermastretch Intellectual Property Management
Acronym: PIDERMA
Coordinator: Herniamesh s.r.l.

Type: Service
Annuality: Second
TP/LS membership: TecnInn/HMNA2
Subjects involved:Herniamesh

Status: Completed
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Abstract: The purpose of this service is to:

  • Filing a PCT application that will subsequently allow for a better definition, among all the Patent Cooperation Treaty states, of those with the greatest commercial potential and for which national patent extension steps will then be taken.
  • File the DERMASTRETCH trademark in Italy and internationally in Class 10 for certain foreign countries.

Name: Roberta Lamberti
Organization: Herniamesh
Address: Via Flli Meliga 1/C
Phone: 011/9196236
Fax: 011/5504085
E-mail: r.lamberti@hernaiamesh.it
WEB: www.herniamesh.com

THE PROBLEM ADDRESSED

It is a fact that chronic skin lesions are a steadily expanding disease, especially in the so-called first world, with rates ranging from 0.4 to 1 percent of the population. The instrument of the invention makes it possible to reduce the time for wound contraction and repair in many cases by bypassing the use of plastic surgery. The device for the treatment of skin wounds, whose patent has already been applied for at the national level on 03.05.2011, is a product that enriches the company’s catalog and is of strategic importance as it allows Herniamesh to enter a market that is still unexplored for it, that of Wound Care.

THE ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT

The service has been delayed regarding the patent extension. In fact, the PCT application was only filed on 05/25/2012 and the International Search Report was issued on 09/19/2012. In fact, evaluations by foreign patent offices are not always in line with weather forecasts precisely because they depend on evaluators on the ground and not Herniamesh. This inevitably led to a slowdown and the planned activity, with associated expenses, continued beyond the formal closure of the service, despite the granting of the extension.

Regarding the trademark DERMASTRETCH, all applications for filing have been made. Official registrations obtained to date concern Lebanon, Japan, and South Korea, but for
all other countries the activities and related billing are still in process.

PROJECT RESULTS

PCT application has been filed and the International Search Report has been issued. This allowed Herniamesh to select foreign states in which to move on to the domestic phases of patent extension (an activity that is still ongoing although outside the funded service). As the “Wound Care” market is of strategic importance not only to Herniamesh but to numerous other emerging players, the activities carried out will allow for the maintenance of broad patent protection that only the PCT can provide.
Regarding the trademark DERMASTRETCH, all the planned applications for filing were made in order to protect the identity and originality of the product. In fact, protecting the DERMASTRETCH name is also strategically crucial so as not to frustrate the product development efforts themselves. Herniamesh, aware that it is entering an as yet unexplored market, expects with patent and trademark protection to achieve at least 50 percent of sales of the new product in question abroad (mainly all countries that have a high percentage of elderly people and diseases such as diabetes, etc.), which in total could lead to a 20 percent growth in company sales. Forecasts of revenue growth are related to the assumed number of samples sold per treatment. The product is for surgical use, sold sterile and nonreusable, and it is assumed that for an average wound, 3 products are needed for a first approximation of the flaps. Subsequently, following dressing, it will be necessary to replace the 3 products with as many new, sterile ones, and when one considers that for a wound to reapproximate to healing it may take several months of treatment with subsequent dressings, a total of about 20-25 units of product could be sold per patient.

PROJECT NUMBERS

  • Number of employed researchers (fixed-term and permanent and cocopro) involved: 2
  • Duration in months: 18
  • Total budget: 24.431 €
  • Funding: 12.216 €
  • Number of patents filed: 1 PCT application