Orange County / Irvine · California
Orange County has deep concentrations in catheter-based cardiovascular, neurovascular, and ophthalmic devices. Companies entering those fields meet large, mature patent portfolios almost immediately.
Orange County's medical technology base took root in the 1960s, when companies including Allergan and Edwards Lifesciences moved to the area around the same time a new University of California campus opened in the planned city of Irvine. Edwards remains headquartered in Irvine and is closely associated with structural heart disease, including its pioneering role in transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Masimo also chose Irvine for its headquarters, and Glaukos, an ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company, is based in Aliso Viejo.
Large multinational device businesses have added to that core. Johnson & Johnson opened an Irvine medtech campus in 2016 that houses J&J Vision, Acclarent, Cerenovus in neurovascular care, Mentor, and Biosense Webster in heart rhythm disorders. Medtronic Neurovascular also operates in Irvine, and the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce has described the city as a center of neurovascular activity.
The startup infrastructure is closely tied to those companies. Octane, founded in 2002, runs the LaunchPad accelerator for medtech and other companies, and in June 2026 it launched the Mussallem Cardiovascular Accelerator, a 14-week virtual program for cardiovascular startups supported by the foundation of former Edwards chairman and CEO Mike Mussallem and Linda Mussallem. UCI Beall Applied Innovation connects campus research with investors and businesses from its facility at UCI Research Park, and DeviceAlliance serves as a nonprofit association for device professionals.
For a young company, that concentration cuts two ways. Experienced engineering and clinical talent is nearby, but many founders come from those same large companies and should review prior invention assignment and confidentiality obligations before filing. In catheter delivery systems, neurovascular tools, and ophthalmic implants, established portfolios are extensive, so freedom-to-operate analysis and deliberate design-around choices belong early in development. Incremental improvements, which are common in these categories, are often best protected through a family of applications with claims at several levels of detail, and continuation practice lets a company pursue claims that track the product as it evolves. Ophthalmic products that combine a device with a drug add further questions about how each component is claimed.
Patent Strategy Considerations
Catheter, neurovascular, and ophthalmic device fields carry extensive issued claims. Early freedom-to-operate review helps steer design choices before they become expensive to change.
Keeping a family pending allows claims to be refined as the commercial design, clinical data, and competitor products come into focus.
Invention assignment and confidentiality terms from a prior employer can reach ideas developed later. Clear conception records and an early review of those agreements protect the new company's ownership.
How Engagements Work
Knechtel Law Group is based in Carefree, Arizona. Patent prosecution and counseling before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is federal practice, and engagements with Orange County / Irvine-area companies are handled directly by senior counsel by video and in person as needed. Matters that turn on state law may call for local counsel.
Request a Confidential ConsultationCommon Questions
No. Representation before the USPTO is federal, and a registered patent attorney may represent applicants located anywhere in the United States. Knechtel Law Group is based in Carefree, Arizona. California employment or corporate questions, or litigation in a California court, may call for counsel admitted in California.
Focus the claims on the specific structural or functional change and the problem it solves, and support it with a detailed description of embodiments. Several claim sets of varying breadth, sometimes pursued through continuation applications, generally provide more durable protection than one broad claim.
It can. Claims may be directed to the device, the formulation, the combination, and methods of use, and each has different prior art and ownership considerations. Regulatory classification is a separate question from patent strategy but should inform it.
Discuss Your Portfolio
Schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your technology, your existing portfolio, and your plans.
Request a Confidential Consultation