Salimetrics, LLC, based in State College, Pennsylvania, with offices in the U.K. and distributors around the world, is a small company that supports researchers, the immunodiagnostic industry, and laboratories around the world with innovative salivary immunoassay products and services for measuring numerous hormones and biomarkers..
““The intellectual property freedom-to-operate search saved us a lot of time and, combined with the market insight, gave us the confidence to move forward with this important new product. It has given us IP with value that we can commercialize.” Jon Peterson, Principal Scientist, Salimetrics
Situation
Salimetrics had developed a chemical derivative of melatonin that they wanted to use in creating a saliva-based immunoassay for melatonin detection. The assay had the potential to offer a much faster, simpler-to-use test with better results than the only other competing product in the world. It might also be a breakthrough for melatonin research in sleep studies. But, before taking any next steps, the company needed to know if existing intellectual property might prevent further development of a new product. They also wanted to understand the competition in this market.
Solution
To get this critical intelligence, Salimetrics partnered with Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), a NIST MEP affiliate in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to determine the existing intellectual property and competition in the field. MRC conducted a search of U.S. patents filed since 1990 that related to the modified melatonin feature. Then, after examining market offerings from over 550 patent holders that might have intellectual property restrictions, they profiled 38 of the most relevant records. MRC also evaluated competitors identified by Salimetrics and performed an additional market- based search to identify saliva-based melatonin assays. With the intelligence gathered from the project with MRC, Salimetrics moved forward with developing its new product.
Results
- Filed provisional patent.
- Identified potential sub-license, which is currently under evaluation.
- Launched a new product in June 2013.
- Expected 10% increase in total revenues.
- Placed orders for the first commercialized lot.