Kilpatrick Townsend’s Yifan Mao, MSc, and Joseph Snyder, Ph.D., JD, recently provided a presentation at Daybreak Labs on the topic of “A Cost-Effective Patent Strategy for Startups.” The presentation covered intellectual property protection for start-ups, including patents and trade secrets. A high-level overview of the patent application and procurement process was presented and discussed. Patent prior art landscapes and freedom-to-operate issues were also raised. These are the important issues every entrepreneur and founder must consider in order to launch and run a successful life science company.