How do you know that you’re building something special? In the lens of intellectual property, this question takes on a whole other meaning. Knowing that something is unique and protected with IP is far more complex than you’d think. And for some growing startups with plenty to think about and lots on the go, IP isn’t always on the radar.

When startup Sifio Health was first developing its technology, IP wasn’t even a thought. Only after diving into IP with the help of ElevateIP did founder and CEO Jean-Pierre Eskander realize just how unique Sifio Health truly was, and how much opportunity awaited.

Using AI to bring humanness into healthcare

Sifio Health uses AI technology to help surgical units run more effectively. Combining business science and operational analytics, Sifio Health helps to predict surgical duration, patient demand, and resource requirements (staffing and beds), allowing surgeons and Perioperative management to better prepare for upcoming operations. The outcome? An improved clinical experience, increased sustainability in hospitals, and enhanced accessibility in healthcare for patients.

“I come from a consulting background where we were helping to improve processes in a variety of industries,” said Eskander. “I worked in healthcare consulting for over a decade, so I knew firsthand how many opportunities there were to improve operating room availability, lower wait times for patients, improve staffing deployment, and to give doctors and surgeons better predictability in their days.”

It was a new way to leverage AI — not to develop medicine per se, but to apply it to the healthcare system as a whole. But… how new was it, really?

You don’t know what you don’t know

Eskander wasn’t even thinking about the IP side of the company’s work. As a member of Communitech, he first learned about the ElevateIP program through a newsletter. Intrigued by the topic of IP, he attended talks about the program to learn more.

“The more I started learning about IP and all the different sides to it — employment contracts, partnerships, academic relationships — the more I realized we didn’t have a full understanding of what could happen to Sifio if we didn’t protect our IP,” he explained.

From there, the questions snowballed.

“I began to wonder what else we didn’t know. I hoped we weren’t infringing on anybody’s existing patents. And hopefully there was no one out there currently infringing on ours. Did we have the right protection?” he continued. “I realized IP protection needed to be at the forefront of what we were doing. For the future of our company, getting investors, protecting our tech… Communitech brought that all into focus. You don’t know what you don’t know. But now we know.”

Developing an IP strategy

The three-tiered structure of ElevateIP was a perfect match for Sifio Health. Tier 1 is focused on education about IP. Tier 2 is about strategy development and diving into your own IP potential. Tier 3 is where companies get into the actual filing for trademarks, patents, etc.

“Getting the education first before diving into execution was so helpful for us. It was so much easier to understand where we’re going, what we’re committing to, and why it matters with the background knowledge,” Eskander said.

Being new to IP, the Tier 2 project led to many discoveries for Sifio Health.

“I was shocked with the amount of intellectual property we found that applied to us and what Sifio was doing,” he explained. “With the help of ElevateIP, we did a patentability search. That was where we discovered just how unique what we’re doing actually is. There’s so much whitespace for us to play in.”

Discovering IP revealed new doors

Uncovering the value of IP has helped Eskander realize Sifio Health’s business strategy potential and has opened unthinkable new doors for the company. It wasn’t just about the ability to develop more brand-new tech, it was about the possibility of growing the company. And the possibilities seem endless.

“We have a better understanding now than ever before of what makes Sifio Health so unique and special. When it comes to articulating our unique selling potential to investors,” he said. “We’re able to be looked at differently than we were before ElevateIP because we have the protections in place to keep us unique. Our future looks much brighter.”