Health IT

Biggest threat to investment in mobile health startups? Not enough unique intellectual property

There are plenty of mobile health apps — about 40,000 some media reports reckon — […]

There are plenty of mobile health apps — about 40,000 some media reports reckon — and investment has surged.

Last year, about $439 million was invested into 70 deals for healthcare startups that develop mobile health apps along with tools for online social networking, according to a Dow Jones Venture Source report published earlier this year.

But as Ted Driscoll, a technology partner with venture capital firm Claremont Creek Ventures sees it, investors interested in the mobile health space could be turned off by companies with products that can’t be protected from would-be copiers. Theoretically, patents are only supposed to be issued if products are unique and different, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.

He also talked about a recent investment in a company with an ear exam tool as part of an iPhone app. He spoke to MedCity News a its CONVERGE conference in Philadelphia Tuesday.

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