Bioinformatics and Digital Health – Why protecting the IP in your life sciences software is commercially useful and how to go about it

The convergence of life sciences, advanced software and artificial intelligence is reshaping research, diagnostics and therapeutic development—yet it is also testing the limits of traditional intellectual-property regimes. Join LES South Africa for a high-level, practice-focused discussion that demystifies how to secure, defend and licence cutting-edge bioinformatics and digital-health innovations in two traditionally important territories for South African innovators in this field of technology.

Drawing on the real-world experience in Europe and the USA from two preeminent UK & European patent attorneys, Lauris Kemp and Caroline Day from HLK, and moderated by Joanne van Harmelen from Adams & Adams, the virtual discussion will:

• Provide examples from the current patent filing landscape, highlighting where companies are successfully obtaining patents.
• Discuss why holistic protection of the pipeline behind a product is commercially important
• Consider how to successfully craft robust computer-implemented and AI claim sets while overcoming core patentability hurdles in Europe and the USA
• Share proven licensing strategies that turn bioinformatics patents into revenue, strengthen freedom-to-operate positions and differentiate offerings in crowded sequencing and digital-health markets.
• Flag emerging risks—including inventorship disputes around AI and globally inconsistent subject-matter eligibility—and the contractual safeguards that mitigate them.

View full event information here.