3Scan’s Nada Rastad: crossing the line and patenting robotics

Given the novel applications of emerging technologies such as robotics, it might be assumed that obtaining patents will be easy. But, as Nada Rastad, general counsel at 3Scan, has discovered, that’s not quite true.

“Robotics are implicated in all kinds of other fields—such as manufacturing and mechanics—that have nothing to do with biomedical applications,” Rastad explains.

3Scan is an American biotech which combines robotics with machine learning and automation to offer microscopy services for the 3D analysis of cells, tissues, and organs.

For example, Knife-Edge Scanning Microscopy, 3Scan’s proprietary robotic imaging platform, is able to produce 3D tissue models at micron-scale resolution, bringing precision analysis to pathology.

For Rastad, working in such a novel field, it was quite a shock to discover that one element of a recent patent filing was implicated in a range of inventions that have nothing to do with biomedical applications—including a Seiko watch.

What robots can do may be novel, Rastad explains, but ultimately, they’re just a sum of their parts. As a result, trying to patent any part of a novel robotic invention can be tricky, because a lot of general machining know-how can be implicated by the robotics design.

“In all the new developments that we’ve made, the biggest challenge has been dealing with getting things across the [patent approval] line,” she says.

Founded in 2011, 3Scan is still a relatively young company. It currently has one issued patent, four provisional patents, and “a bunch more” that haven’t yet reached the provisional stage, according to Rastad.

The lengthy nature of the patent process is a challenge for such a young company.