MSC speaker and Cannuflow CEO Ted Kucklick provided important information on non-disclosure agreements.

A medical device entrepreneur and a patent attorney want start-up medical device companies and established firms alike to know when it comes to NDA (non-disclosure agreements) and IP (intellectual property), knowledge and organizational might are critical. Both were speakers at last month’s Medical Silicone Conference in Anaheim.

Cannuflow CEO and Medical Design Contributor Ted Kucklick discussed the importance of meticulous record-keeping in order to make NDAs enforceable—“otherwise it’s nothing more than a scarecrow”—and the many details and terms that must be accounted for in order for NDAs to be effective. “Implementing and maintaining NDAs is like flossing,” said Kucklick. “If you are diligent, it can keep a smile on your face in the long run.”

Attorney Davy Crockett discussed the ins and outs of intellectual property.

Crockett-Crockett Principal Davy Crockett discussed four components of intellectual property: copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents. When it comes to patents, great care must be paid to providing detailed descriptions, drawings to help understand the technology, and claims that “recite as precisely as possible what the invention is.” Then, Crockett said, it’s up to a federal patent officer to determine if the invention is “non-obvious” and worthy of the patent.

For more on NDAs, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents, Kucklick’s and Crockett’s presentations.