Lowenstein Sandler is proud to announce the successful culmination of its pro bono representation of inventor Stella Markova with the official launch of her new home healthcare product BedVee, a portable, electric bed wedge that adjusts through an attached remote control 5 to 50 degrees.
Members of the firm’s Patent Counseling & Prosecution team, including partner Kevin O. Grange and counsel Sam Noel, assisted Markova in making the idea a reality through the ProBoPat program, run by the nonprofit job training center Mi Casa Resource Center® which aims to educate, support, and train youth and adults on their path to economic success.
The idea for the BedVee arose when Markova observed her own family’s strenuous efforts to take care of a critically ill loved one. She realized that hospice patients frequently need help sitting up, caregivers are not always available or physically able to assist, and hospital beds are often financially out of reach. Markova thus created a design for a wedge pillow that inflates incrementally like an air mattress, helping the patient find a comfortable and safe way to sit up with minimal effort and cost.
Markova won the 2020 Bench to Bedside Competition for medical technology innovations at the University of Utah. Grange and Noel, based in Lowenstein’s Utah office, then worked with Markova to draft and file a non-provisional patent application and to respond to Office Actions to obtain an issued patent to protect her intellectual property.
Lowenstein is a long-time supporter of ProBoPat, which was established to “work with and support ... the establishment of pro bono programs designed to assist financially under-resourced independent inventors and small businesses.” Grange, who pioneered the opening of the firm’s Utah office in 2015, was instrumental in forming a relationship with Mi Casa, realizing that the organization shared many of Lowenstein’s core values and could use support in advancing the potential of all people to achieve their educational, professional, and entrepreneurial goals.
Grange says: “From its founding, Lowenstein Sandler has been committed to advancing the public interest and serving communities in need. For decades, our strong pro bono program and other forms of civic and philanthropic engagement have focused on addressing significant social problems and giving meaningful assistance to low-income and other marginalized people, along with the organizations that advocate for and support them.” He adds: “ProBoPat provides the perfect vehicle for matching our talents and desires to help people in the community like Stella, who have great ideas but lack the resources to effectively bring their innovations to life.
The ProBoPat program enables Grange, Noel, and other patent attorneys to offer low-income entrepreneurs the same knowledge and deep experience of intellectual property and patent law that they provide to blue-chip and iconic tech clients around the world, Over the years, Lowenstein attorneys have consulted with many inventors across the Mountain West, performing prior art searches and preparing a wide variety of utility and design patent applications. Every lawyer in the Utah office participates in the program, and the team has prepared and filed approximately 36 patent applications for low-income inventors since they began working with ProBoPat in 2017, in addition to preparing and filing dozens of patent applications pro bono since 2013 work in connection with California Lawyers for the Arts.
Since 2017, the Lowenstein patent team has received yearly recognition from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for their work with ProBoPat. However, Noel says: “Our biggest reward is getting to watch our inventors finally bring their products to market. Stella is going to help so many people with her BedVee.”
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler LLP is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
