Today in health, it we're going to talk about protecting your IP when big tech comes calling. And why that's important, why it matters even for health systems. My name is bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week health, a set of channels and events dedicated to leveraging the power of community to propel healthcare forward.

We want to thank our show sponsors or investigate developing the next generation of health leaders. They are short tests, artists certify health and another one notable. And service now, check them out at this week. health.com/today. Having a child with cancer is one of the most painful and difficult situations. Family can face as you know, We are looking to give back this year as part of our five-year anniversary, this week health, we set an ambitious goal to raise $50,000 from the community. And you did not disappoint. We are up over $50,000, but we are not going to stop here. If you want to be a part of it. You can join us, hit our website in the top right-hand column and actually cleaned it up a little bit. It's real obvious. Top right hand column. You're going to see the logo for the lemonade. Stand, click on that to give today. We believe in generosity of our community and we thank you in advance. I was talking to, somebody who listened to the show and they said, I should mention this because I usually do it at the end of the show. And that is if I were a CIO. Today, listening to this kind of show. I would recommend my staff listen to it. And some of you have told me that you're doing this and it's great conversations. You know, sometimes I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong, but I would utilize this kind of show to get the dialogue going, get the conversation going. I'm going to hit a different news story. Or different thing that's happening in the industry every day. And it gives your team an opportunity to stay current and you an opportunity to engage with them in the conversation. So give that a try. Let me know how it goes. All right. Here's the story. It's an interesting one. It's an opinion piece out of the wall street journal. And that was written by the founder of AliveCor. The title of it is Biden can stand for the little guy against the apple.

We had patents and other evidence. So we sought legal recourse, apple fought back filing dilatory motions, and counter suits. We found ways to move forward with other products, even as we poured huge amounts of time and money into the fight with apple, many other small businesses told us. That when they face such bullying, they gave in, we did in June an administrative law judge. For the U S. ITC international trade commission made an initial determination that apple infringed our patented technology. In December the EITC upheld that finding. And it's final determination. Live court CEO, Priya. Uh, Baney AB a N. I called the ruling a win for innovation and consumer choice. The commission ordered a ban on imports of infringing, apple watches. But suspended the band while alive core faces a separate fight against apple. In the us patent office. But precedents can overrule and overturn ITC decisions. And apple will urge Joe Biden to do just that. If he does. Enhance apple a victory. It will tell inventors everywhere not to bother creating truly disruptive technologies. Even once they can save lives. IP intensive industries account for 44% of the us employment and 41% of gross. Domestic product. If apple wins the repercussions throughout the ecosystem will be seismic. The president said days ago that small businesses are the engines of our economy and the hearts of our communities. This case gives him an opportunity to show that he means it. Let's see, is there anything else that's essentially the article. So , first of all, why cover this? I cover this because a lot of organizations you're going to partner with organizations that are going to do. Creative things. Around technology and healthcare. And depending on your size, you might even be able to fund some of those organizations or become a partner in some of those organizations. And I would be leery. When big players come calling, especially one that has a former founder that says we've always been shameless about stealing great ideas. I sat in a meeting once with a startup and apple, because I was a CIO representative in that meeting. And it became very apparent to me about 45. Minutes into this meeting, that there was no chance that apple was going to utilize this technology that essentially they had sent a team down to. Ask questions, find out what they were doing so that they could do whatever they were going to do with that technology moving forward. I then got with the owner and I said, you should end this meeting. I should end this meeting right now. There's no reason to continue. I know it's really neat and interesting talking to apple and having their people in here, but they have no interest in doing business with you. And sure enough, that founder. Out of pride, ego or whatever, decided to continue that conversation fast forward, , about a year and sure enough, apple rolls out something. That isn't the same, but essentially has the foundations on what that company was doing. And again, it's not, it wasn't patentable kind of things. It's the kind of things that it felt to me like they sent the team out again, this is my opinion. They sent a team out to interview.

These are the types of companies that were doing these things so that they would learn from them. And then they could incorporate into the technology that they probably already had planned. And so I share this to say, Be careful. . You know, , when the, the prom king that is apple asks you to the dance. It might feel really good, but you have to ask yourself, is this real. Think about the number of times apple has bought companies. It is not that great. They do not buy companies all that often. And they are very strategic and if they feel they can do it on their own, they will do it on their own. They're not the only ones there's even players that aren't potentially the largest of players that have the same kind of strategy, but you have to use discernment when each one of them comes in. You have to figure out. What they're looking for and, if there is a fit. And you should. Figure that out pretty early on, you should sign all the agreements that you need to sign in order to protect yourself. And you should be willing to fight. For your intellectual property, because it is. At tangible service that, , you have brought to the world, to the industry, to the world. You've brought ideas, thinking you created a product you took the time to get it patented. And to put it out there. That is something you should fight for anyway. Again, cursory for many of you, you're going to be thinking, Hey, what's the practical application for me on this stuff. And I think it is, at some point you might be in a situation like the one I described where you're sitting across from that big player and you're representing , one of the companies that you're doing business with and just keep an eye out. It happens. And in fact, Steve jobs is the one who warned us that it happens. We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas. And so just something to consider. All right. That's all for today. If you know someone that might benefit from our channel, as I said earlier, It really does help us a lot when you recommend the show to other people and we would appreciate it. We want to thank our channel sponsors who are investing in our mission to develop the next generation of health leaders. They are short test artist, site parlance, certified health service now, and new to the show 📍 notable. Check them out at this week. health.com/today. Thanks for listening. That's all for now.