GRASP AS is a privately owned, digital health company that focuses on the development, production and distribution of a new digital tool for use within the health sector. The Grasp tool is a medical device that facilitates communication of medical history between patients and clinicians, and makes personal treatment possible.
The product
Grasp is used to map the user's experiences in the blink of an eye as they happen. The experience can be stress, anger, fear, anxiety, grief, breathing difficulties, pain, dizziness, hunger and withdrawal, but also positive feelings such as joy and motivation. The user squeezes what she experiences, and Grasp remembers when she squeezed, how long she squeezed and how hard she squeezed. All information can be loaded into the tool and visualized when desired.
– Grasp is a completely new product within the healthcare sector. We have to both protect and register our product, so this is connected. By securing ourselves, we raise the value of our invention.
Ingvald Grindheim
Ingvald Grindheim
Different forms of protection
To succeed in the market, they must deliver a good product. Since they operate within the health sector, approvals are required (MDR). They also need to protect themselves through patents and other rights.
The company believes it is important to have a good IPR strategy, and it is in place at the overall level. They are in dialogue with a patent attorney to get help with a detailed plan and a better overall strategy for the whole world. The company currently has the following applications and is correcting:
- A patent application for the technology is being processed by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office
- The product has been registered as a design in Norway
- A trademark application for a combined mark is being processed by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office
- They have a patent application in the EU for "Non-directional pressure sensor - Measurement device for detecting and measuring pain". They want protection in large parts of the world, but start with the EU and the UK.
- They are considering several patents, including software
They have so far not experienced copying, but believe that similar solutions will appear on the market when they break through. It is therefore important to have protection in order to be stronger against competitors.
Approvals
In order to carry out clinical tests and sell the product as a medical device, CE marking and Medical Device Approved (MDA) are required in the EU. The company received this approval on 25 February 2020.
They have started the process of getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the USA, but they need to formalize a system for quality management before they apply.
External assistance
They have brought in externals where they have not had enough expertise themselves:
- CE and Medical have been obtained through the cooperation partner KUOJI in Poland
- They have submitted the patent application through the authorized office Håmsø
- They have handled the trademark and design application themselves
- Bryn Aarflot's authorized office has helped to collect declarations of consent for trademarks
- They will seek external help for the further process out in the world
What are you working on now?
They must go through various approval processes to professionalize the business:
- They work with product development to find an optimal product
- They must put quality systems and routines in place
- They must think through what they will deliver in terms of both services and products
- They must ensure that they secure themselves in the market and thereby raise the value of their invention to both investors and customers, primarily healthcare companies
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