如何保护你的创新+支持安吉拉弗里曼在STEM领域的女性

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凯蒂[00:00:04]欢迎来到“创新的不为人知的故事”，在这里，我们将讲述不为人知的关于洞察力、影响力和创新的故事。由不为人知的内容提供动乐动体育足球力。我是主持人，凯蒂·特劳斯·泰勒。我们今天的嘉宾是安吉拉·弗里曼。她是巴恩斯和索恩伯格律师事务所的知识产权助理，也是女性与高科技公司的总裁。安吉拉，感谢你来到播客。

安琪拉[00:00:30]谢谢你们邀请我。我很欣赏这一点。

凯蒂[00:00:33]请告诉我们作为一名知识产权律师意味着什么，以及你的客户类型。

安琪拉(00:00:39)确定。正如你所说，我是一名知识产权律师。这种情况有很多种。我是一个专利律师。你也可以成为商标律师或版权律师。我很喜欢成为一名专利律师，因为这是唯一一个需要你有科学和技术背景的法律领域——某种类型的工程，硬科学。我很感激。这可能是法律中最具挑战性的领域之一。大多数律师都会告诉你，他们不喜欢这样做，因为这涉及到数学和科学。通常律师都不喜欢数学和科学。 That’s why they go into the practice of law. So we are the kind of rare creatures in the legal field that, you know, have—some people’ say— are able to use both sides of our brain. And I enjoy that. I enjoy being in what I think to be an elite class of legal scholars and practitioners. That’s exciting to me because it completely capitalizes on my background. So it’s been an interesting journey.

凯蒂[00:01:55]你有什么科学背景?

安琪拉[00:01:59]所以我是一名训练有素的分子生物学家。乐动体育266我在路易斯维尔大学获得了生物和化学学士学位，分子生物学硕士学位，然后去了礼来，这是我的第一份重要工作，在那里做研究科学家和临床科学家，研究遗传学十多年，大约12到13年。那真是太棒了。我非常喜欢。爱它的一切。喜欢待在实验室里。喜欢我的同事。我有一份伟大的事业，带我周游世界。我参加了各种各样的科学会议，展示和解释我的研究成果。这太棒了。 But just got to a point in my career where I wanted a little something different. You know, getting a little older and looking at the future and realizing, you know, OK, this has been great, but I don’t know if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. You know?

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凯蒂(00:03:07)是的。

安琪拉[00:03:08]然后开始调查，好吧，还有什么?还有什么?你还会做什么?并偶然进入了专利法领域。我对律师一无所知，我家里也没有律师，也没有接触过律师，当然也没有非裔美国律师，我完全不知道这种法律或法律实践的存在。莉莉大学的一位女律师——她是该领域的最高职位之一——说:“安吉拉，如果你想学法律。你得去做律师。去和专利律师谈谈吧。”我说:“那是什么?这是一个东西吗? Like that’s a real thing?” So kind of chased that path and realized that there was this whole practice of law that kind of capitalized on the whole background I’d had as a molecular biologist and scientist. And I love it. You know, I loved every bit about being able to use that knowledge and experience to translate into a different profession and a different career.

凯蒂[00:04:19]是啊，我敢说这一定让你做好了充分的准备，让你看到等式的两面。从-看

安琪拉[00:04:27]完全正确。

凯蒂(00:04:29)是的。

安琪拉[00:04:29]这就是我的感觉你知道，我在研发，研究和发展，制造这些东西和新发明。现在我在创新管道的另一端，我在帮助我的客户保护他们正在进行的创新。这是我在生命科学、生物技术、食品、农业方面的实践领域，然后是生物技术制药。这是令人兴奋的。这真的是我以前的生活和经验的应用。人们问我，你后悔没有早点这么做吗?我说，一点也不。我不知道如果没有这么多年的经验，我能不能做到这一点，不仅仅是学习，而是在实验室里亲眼看到创新是如何发生的。你知道，管道、研发、药物开发、临床试验，所有这些事情——在仪器上工作。 I mean, I’ve worked on a couple patent applications where I’m like, I did that experiment. You know, I ran that machine. I know exactly what they’re talking about.

凯蒂(00:05:42)是的。你能把这两条路以一种强大的方式融合在一起，真是太棒了。您能和我们分享一下您最近在专利方面的一些产品或方法吗?

安琪拉[00:05:56]这都是基于客户，对吧?和我的客户。我的客户是多样化的。所以他们确实开发了很多东西，从保护食物的技术，我们每天吃的水果和食物的新鲜程度，到各种疾病的治疗方法或研究诊断工具，我们在实验室使用的设备，研究中使用的各种工具和技术。所以，什么都有一点。这完全取决于客户，不管他们发明的是什么在某种程度上属于生物技术研究领域然后扩展到不同类型的更工业的技术。这是非常有趣的一点。总是不同的东西，对吧?你永远不知道接下来会发生什么，你每天要做什么，因为都是不同的东西。这对我来说很有趣。

凯蒂[00:06:58]你知道，知识产权对创新和创新团队来说非常重要。不管你是初创公司还是在大公司工作，在创新团队还是在研发部门工作，你总是要质疑你的创新，你知道，它是否能获得专利，是否能受到保护或版权保护，是否应该这样做。

安琪拉[00:07:24]。

凯蒂[00:07:25]请给我们介绍一下。假设我们的一些听众对这个过程了解很多，而另一些听众可能对这个过程了解不多。请告诉我们，最核心的是，你如何从知识产权的角度来决定某样东西是否能够受到保护?

安琪拉(00:07:45)是的。所以让我把这个问题换一种说法，因为我们的工作不是决定它是否能被保护。这是专利局的工作。但我们的工作是确保客户有最好的机会来保护发明，我认为真正的问题是，怎样做才是最好的方法?因为如果你有任何一种有价值的资产你在创造，生产，创新，无论你是大公司还是小公司或实体，只要它有任何实际的经济价值，它就会被侵犯，被夺走，被偷走。所以问题是，通常情况下，特别是对小公司来说，你计划从产品中获得的收入是否值得为其付出法律保护的费用?产品周期的长寿是否证明了为产品申请专利所需的时间是合理的?

凯蒂[00:09:10]有多长?

安琪拉(00:09:12)是的。我经常和我的客户进行这样的对话，因为这通常是一个教育的过程。我们这么做的原因是因为这是你必须了解的完全不同的法律条文。一般来说，现在我在生命科学领域。记住，生物技术，对于不同的技术领域，申请专利的周期可能会短一点或长一点，这取决于你所从事的领域。你知道，通常我告诉客户大概2到3年，也许2到5年。

凯蒂(00:09:50)是的。

安琪拉[00:09:50]但这得花点时间。我的意思是，这不是一件你只是，哦，我有一个很好的想法，你知道，明年就会获得专利。但是当你提交了申请，专利申请，寻求保护，法律保护，联邦保护，你就可以在你的产品上盖上专利待定章，告诉人们，你正在申请专利。不是说你现在有专利，而是说你正在这个过程中。这就是给人们的营销通知。当你考虑与投资者交谈时，这通常具有显著的价值和重要性。但是你问，假设这个过程有不同层次的信息。通常是这样的。我最想恳求的一件事是对于那些想要，用他们正在生产或制造的产品创业的企业家们，他们想要把产品推向市场的人，请务必注意并至少考虑一下申请专利是否是你需要保护产品的一个过程。有时候最好还是保守你想要的秘密。 It’s called a trade secret. Right? You keep a secret. You protect it. Make sure only certain people have access to it. Certainly that’s less expensive. But the difference is when you patent something, you’re kind of trading off that time frame. Right. If you get a patent, it’s worth—it’s good for 20 years. You have, kind of, exclusive protection for 20 years. Whereas with a trade secret, you—it’s good as long as it’s secret. But if anybody figures it out, your protect (word unclear), period. So, you know, there are considerations that any entrepreneur, person who’s being innovative, inventing things, should consider about protection before the rush to go to market. Too many times I see young entrepreneurs especially just rush to market. Right. And there is a disclosure that occurs there that can prevent you from patenting it if it’s not done within a certain timeframe. So there are considerations, you know, to get in that process.

凯蒂[00:12:24]我真的很高兴你提出这个问题，因为，你知道，企业创新团队和大型公司经营研发业务，这些都是众所周知的过程。他们为新发明申请专利已经有几十年了。对于创业公司来说，这是一个非常不同的情况——对于许多创业公司的创始人来说，这是一个他们需要理解的新领域。我特别想到的是你刚才提到的那种紧张关系，这是知识产权保护的需要，也是投资者能够在7年左右的时间内获得回报的需要。因此，即使是获得专利的过程都需要三到五年，但你真的只有五到十年的时间来建立公司，然后退出来回报投资者的资金。你能分享一下你对创业公司如何平衡这个等式的看法吗?

安琪拉[00:13:24]是的，这是一个挑战。我是说，这很有挑战性。我向所有年轻的企业家脱帽致敬。年轻人和老年人。我一直在说“年轻”，因为我接触过很多，你知道，年轻的企业家，他们正在追逐这个目标。这是如此令人印象深刻。但它是具有挑战性的。你知道，这很有挑战性——尤其是申请专利并不便宜。所以这很耗时间，很贵，而且没有计划。这不是任何一种常规的日程安排，年轻的企业家或年轻的企业甚至可以进行预算。 I’ve had clients ask me, give me a budget. You know, tell me how much I need to plan for, for this year and next year. And I do that. But it could be right or it could be absolutely wrong. Just depending on the patent office and those kind of things. So it is challenging for entrepreneurs. But again—and that’s a real consideration is whether you spend the money. And again, I say it’s expensive, but it’s all over the course of those two to five years. Right. It’s not all at once or any bulk. But again, I appreciate that for, you know, a young business that’s trying to get its grips or, you know, even seek investor dollars. It can be challenging to, kind of, predict what those expenses look like and what considerations. But it is possible. And I think my best advice would be to seek some counsel early. You know, I mean, at least go talk to someone, legal counsel, about whether, you know, that’s necessary. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes the best protection, like I said, is just keeping it secret, particularly—and not all the time, so this is not. Ain’t none of this is legal advice. But it’s certainly worth considering that, you know, for software when things change so fast. Right. You know, you’re already onto the next iteration, the next validation, whatever it is— that sometimes it’s better to just keep it to yourself and do it and make those iterations. But it’s worth seeking counsel? You know, what does concern me and I’m seeing as trends is all these entrepreneurs that are jumping into business without necessarily having, you know, good legal counsel, which you need for things like this. You know, just to—do I need to worry about, you know, trademark? Do I need to get a trademark? You know, is it worth getting a trademark? And some of the balances, I mean, of the good and the bad. The pros and cons. There are plenty of clients who I say, go file the paperwork to start. Like you can do that. You know, I’ve had clients—they’ve gotten their own trademark. Like, it just depends on everyone’s needs. But having a good attorney you can trust, particularly in business, small business. You mentioned these companies and you’re absolutely right. These large companies, they’ve been doing this for years. They know the players. They know the industry. But when you’re a startup, how do you jump into that? You’ve got this great idea but how do you know? And oftentimes it’s as easy as trying to at least get some type of search on your product. It’s not always the right answer just to run and get—go file a patent application. Sometimes it’s better to just see what’s out there and see if you would even be able to get a patent before you spend the time and money trying to pursue it. Maybe somebody in Europe or, you know, in Texas has already invented that. You just don’t know. So once again, all considerations. Right. I mean, and that’s kind of what it is. What works for you and your business? What makes you comfortable? That’s how you proceed.

凯蒂(00:17:34)是的。当然，这似乎也取决于行业和企业规模。让我们稍微换一下话题。非常感谢，因为我知道这真的很重要。这些都是对创新社区非常重要的考虑。让我们稍微换一下话题。我想多了解你的情况你是女性高科技公司的总裁，所以。

安琪拉[00:17:57]噢，天哪。

凯蒂[00:17:58]那么，多给我讲讲这家公司吧。

安琪拉[00:18:01]噢，天哪。这就是我所称的——我想这是我刚刚创造出来的——我的激情项目。Women & Hi Tech是一个真正的组织。我从来没有像现在这样对任何事充满激情。这是一个20年前在印第安纳波利斯成立的组织由Lilly的一位女科学家和一位女科学家共同创立。莉莉大学的露丝和印第安纳大学的一位女学者。再一次，20年前，围绕着女性在STEM和科学领域的关注。当时，这个术语还没有被创造出来。正确的。Women & Hi Tech定义了这些行业是什么，但它们现在是我们所说的STEM:科学、技术、工程和数学。 And just really began as a support organization around women and, you know, realizing that there are so few women, right, in these areas. And how do we promote more and make sure there are more of us? And it literally, over the course of the last 20 years, has become, you know, the same organization but much bigger. I mean, I’ve been involved for six years now and the amount the organization and the activities and the programs and the outreach that we are doing just now for when I started it, it’s just amazing. I mean, we focus on women in STEM from K-through-12, collegiate, and professional. We have STEM days. That’s an event that we’ve been doing for like the last eight years. It’s basically a STEM day for the public to come out and just see various facets of them and get them exposed and inspired about what the cool way STEM can manifest itself in our lives. So we do that. We give college scholarships out to collegiate women. Last year was our 20th anniversary, so we had a 20th anniversary event. We planned to give out twenty thousand dollars’ worth of scholarships, and we gave out thirty thousand. It was awesome. 17 young women from many universities, different girls around the whole state. It was just awesome. So this year is our leading light awards, which is coming October 1st. We’re going to do the same thing. It’s the 20th anniversary of our first leading light award, which happened in 2000. So we’re going to give another twenty thousand dollars of scholarships away. We’re super excited. And it’s just a fantastic organization that just does good stuff to not just promote girls and women, but now we have a particular focus on diversity and equity and inclusion of all girls and all women and just make them have the opportunities to be exposed to STEM, to know that they can excel and advance in STEM, that you can be independent and just build that confidence in young girls so that the next generation of women in science, technology, engineering and math, you know, don’t face some of the same obstacles that me and my generation have. That’s all you can do, right, is try to instill and invest in the next generation. So that’s what Women & Hi Tech is all about. I’ve been blessed to be the president this year. And it’s just been amazing. I mean, I just remain, you know, just in awe at passionate my board is, my colleagues. We’re an all-volunteer working board of directors. And I had a partner a few years ago who was also the president of Women & Hi Tech. She’s who got me involved. And she used to say that we’re an all-volunteer working broad. And I never understood what that meant until I got involved. And I’m like, oh, yeah, you know, like work.

凯蒂(00:22:11)是的。

安琪拉我们的工作[00:22:11]。我们没有员工。但是，我的意思是，我们被激情所激励，我们举办了伟大的活动。你知道，我们离开时深受鼓舞，为我们所做的事和它影响的人感到骄傲。你知道，我们在这个城市的影响力越来越大。我们刚刚结束了为印第安纳波利斯一所全女子STEM学校的募捐活动。肯定是这个州的第一个，甚至可能是全国第一个。你知道，我们超级兴奋。我们很高兴能与印第安纳州中部女童军一起参与这项计划。每个女孩都能STEM。 So, you know, it’s just like the real momentum around women in STEM. And, you know, International Women’s Day and, you know, just all these things that are kind of really culminating. And diversity, equity, and inclusion. That has all kind of been culminated into our mission. It’s just a good time for the organization right now. We’re celebrating a couple of awards and some of our board members are being recognized for their expertise in leadership in the community. And we’re doing good work, you know, affecting real change, real people. And I’m excited to be involved with this.

凯蒂[00:23:33]我喜欢这个组织的使命。从你的一些社交媒体工作中可以明显看出，讲故事和故事分享在你如何互动，如何赋权和鼓励，尤其是年轻女性进入STEM领域，以及成熟的职业女性能够将自己视为导师，并在职业生涯中继续成长的过程中继续寻找导师方面发挥着重要作用。这是非常重要的工作。

安琪拉[00:24:01]是的，很重要。而且，你知道，这是赋权。你看，你知道，在这些STEM的日子里，这些女孩，你知道，我们有一个活动叫做“点燃你的超能力”与印地科技女性和康纳·普瑞里。这是专门为我们学校里的不同类型的女孩准备的，你知道，不然的话，她们可能没有机会以一种可能真正鼓励她们，让她们兴奋或激起她们兴趣的方式接触她们。这是太棒了。我的意思是，今天真是美好的一天，绝好的机会。800个年轻女孩，她们中的一些人真正得到了她们本来得不到的机会。它通常在大学校园里举行。这样他们就能接触到校园生活，了解校园生活是什么样的。我们和那些让他们知道你也可以来学校的学生交谈。 And, you know, all those things. It’s just a good opportunity to continue to build the future. These are going to be the young girls who, you know, are the next generation. So it’s exciting to invest in them and provide role models, because, again, I told you, I didn’t know patent law existed. I just wasn’t exposed. So I truly believe exposure is critical. You can’t be what you can’t see. You know, it’s hard to imagine what may— what things look like if you’re just not exposed to them. So we try to do that on a regular basis.

凯蒂[00:25:34]如果你也受到了这次对话的启发，你一定可以在所有的社交媒体频道Women & Hi Tech上查看。这是H I T E C H。你可以在领英上关注安吉拉·弗里曼，也可以在推特和其他社交媒体账户上关注Barnes And Thornburg，即@BTLawNews。安吉拉，我很感谢你和我聊天。非常感谢你来到我们的播客。

安琪拉[00:25:59]哦，非常感谢你们邀请我。和你谈话很愉快。我希望这是有价值的，但我非常感谢你给我一个机会去看。和你谈话很愉快。

凯蒂(00:26:09)谢谢。感谢收听本周的节目。一定要在社交媒体上关注我们，加入我们的对话。你可以在Untold Content找乐动体育足球到我们。

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