Cortigent’s Patent Portfolio: Aging IP or Strategic Reset?
Vivani Medical has announced plans to spin off Cortigent as an independent publicly-traded company. The spin-off is planned to be completed by Q3 2025.
Vivani Medical was formed in 2022 through the merger of Second Sight Medical and Nano Precision Medical. Cortigent, previously known as Second Sight Medical Products, has since operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivani.
The goal of this transaction is to create two companies, each focused on advancing their respective therapeutic areas of expertise. Cortigent is developing brain implant devices to help people recover critical body functions, and describes itself as "a global leader in precision neurostimulation technology that provides meaningful visual perception (“artificial vision”) for blind people."
“We believe that the best way to realize the full potential of Cortigent is to enable it to operate independently with a management team dedicated to advancing its proprietary neuromodulation technology and developing medical devices that address human conditions where there is significant unmet medical need."
- Adam Mendelsohn, CEO, Vivani Medical
One key question remains - "What will Cortigent's patent portfolio actually look like?"
Our analysis of the Vivani patents portfolio uncovers a number of interesting insights.
Vivani Medical has not filed patents under its own name. Their patent portfolio appears to be managed in two separate entities - a Second Sight Medical patent portfolio and a Nano Precision Medical patent portfolio.
It is assumed that all patents previously assigned to Second Sight Medical will be reassigned to Cortigent.
The patent portfolio of Second Sight Medical shows that since 2009, 334 patent applications and 447 patents have been granted across 151 patent families.
As shown in the charts below, patent applications have steadily declined since 2009, with almost no new filings after 2016.
Analysis by filing dates reveals that application activity slowed to fewer than 20 filings per year after 2007 and appears to have stopped entirely between 2016 and June 2024.
Many Second Sight patents filed in 2009 and earlier will be expiring by 2029. Patents have a maximum lifespan of 20 years from date of filing. Some patents could be extended to say 2032, if they obtain patent term adjustment. Based on the average extension of about 2.5 years.