MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (the “Company” or “MMR”) today announced that it had received a Notice of Allowance, U.S. Serial No. 13/352,026 (the “NOA”), from the United States Patent and Trademark Office which expands the Company’s “Method and System for Providing Online Medical Records.” In short, the most recent allowed application expands MMR’s patent portfolio to cover the exchange of protected health information to and from patients, doctors, pharmacies, insurance providers and other healthcare professionals in various forms, including, but not limited to, email, text, phone, facsimile and web-based portals. The MMR patent portfolio is believed to be relevant to virtually any provider who transmits electronic health records in that it will limit their ability to communicate protected health information without potentially infringing on MMR’s patents. Starting in 2014, Meaningful Use requirements mandate that patients receive timely online access to their health information. The Company believes that the methods and systems claimed in its patent portfolio provide solutions which will assist healthcare providers in meeting those requirements.
The Company also announced that it has initiated licensing and enforcement efforts through its patent litigation counsel, Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor LLP (“Liner”). Liner has already begun contacting physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and others who use or market methods and systems of providing personal health information including Personal Health Records to patients or healthcare professionals.
According to Robert H. Lorsch, President and Chief Executive Officer of MMRGlobal, “We have invested heavily in the development of our patent portfolio and are now positioned to reap the benefits of such investment by compelling doctors, pharmacies, insurance providers, electronic medical record providers and other healthcare professionals to choose negotiating a license with us for the use of our intellectual property or face potential infringement actions. With Meaningful Use requirements for patient engagement taking effect in 2014, which stipulate that patients have online access to their medical records within a certain period of time following the receipt of healthcare services, we believe the MMR portfolio is extremely relevant.”
“This Notice of Allowance continues to expand MMR’s patent portfolio, which provides the Company with significant foundational intellectual property rights covering a large sector of health IT, particularly as it pertains to Personal Health Records,” said Ted Ward, lead patent litigation counsel at Liner. “The Company has instructed us to begin enforcement of its intellectual property, and as a result, we have already begun contacting physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, and others who use or market methods and systems of providing Personal Health Records to patients or healthcare professionals. We are also pleased that this most recent application 13/352,026, which was filed on January 17, 2012, was issued in less than nine months. This Notice of Allowance, along with the Notice of Allowance of U.S. Serial No. 13/041,809 received approximately three weeks ago, continues to expand MMR’s previously issued patents.”
The MMR portfolio is the result of a six-year collaborative effort with the law firm of McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC (“MVS”), and the parties intend to continue to expand the reach of MMR’s patent portfolio concurrently with the licensing and enforcement efforts of Liner. Any additional patents received by the Company will become part of its current patent portfolio, which already consists of U.S. patent numbers 8,117, 646; 8,117,045; and 8,121,855, announced earlier this year. According to John Goodhue of MVS, “We intend to continue doing our part in building out the MMR patent portfolio as quickly as possible so that MMR can continue to maximize the value of its IP in advance of the mandatory 2014 Meaningful Use requirements.”
The Company’s patent portfolio also includes numerous other issued patents and pending applications in the U.S. and countries of commercial interest including Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and European nations.
