Baldes, Thailand’s award-winning balance testing device, participated in one of WIPO’s IP Management Clinics, helping them secure international patent protection with the PCT System.
Inventors will tell you that inspiration can strike in the most unlikely places. For Chatchanee Pakavatsoontorn, an engineering lecturer at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, it came while riding the bus. Chatchanee would often find herself losing her balance as she navigated the city’s busy buses on her way to work. It’s a familiar experience for anyone who has had to battle the crowds on their morning commute. For Chatchanee, however, the experience fueled her curiosity. Was this loss of balance normal? And could it be corrected?
These are important questions. A growing body of evidence shows that balance is essential for health, mobility and perhaps even longevity. Maintaining good balance becomes even more important as we age and the risk of falls and injuries increases. So, when Chatchanee looked for answers, she was surprised to discover that there was no device on the market for an individual to assess their balance.
Seeing a clear opportunity, the engineering lecturer set to work building a device that could quickly and accurately measure a person’s balance. The result is the Balance Assessment Device.
Testing body balance with the Baldes stability scale
Looking like a set of bathroom scales, the invention in fact houses a complicated array of sensors to measure weight, body mass index, centre of gravity, balance areas, movement distance and balance deviation.
The Balance Assessment Device is nevertheless simple to use, requiring only a USB connection to a mobile phone, tablet or computer to provide real-time data visualization and interpretation using Microsoft Excel.
Getting recognition for Baldes’ groundbreaking balance testing machine
The significance of Chatchanee’s invention has quickly been recognized. In 2023, her Balance Assessment Device won the gold medal at the 34th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chatchanee was also awarded the World Invention Intellectual Property Associations’ Special Award at the same event. She has even appeared on the Thailand’s Shark Tank television program to pitch her invention to the show’s investors.
The response from the medical community has also been encouraging, notes Chatchanee. “We’ve tested the Balance Assessment Device in three hospitals and have had positive responses from doctors and especially physicians and pediatricians, who would like to use it as part of patient screening.” Healthcare professionals particularly praised the real-time data visualization without the need to install additional software.
Receiving expert IP advice to commercialize Baldes’ balance smart scale
A seasoned inventor, Chatchanee was already familiar with the patenting process and other aspects of intellectual property (IP). However, for her Balance Assessment Device – as well as Baldes, the company she set up to sell her invention – Chatchanee was keen to refresh her knowledge. This led her to apply for the Intellectual Property Management Clinic (IPMC), WIPO’s unique IP course for startups and smaller companies. This program was organized by the IP for Business Division, with the support from Funds-In-Trust Japan Industrial Property Global.
Since 2021, the four-month IPMC has been held in dozens of locations and supported hundreds of businesses around the world. Each edition provides free training and one-on-one mentoring to help participants navigate the legal complexities of protecting their business’ IP. Mentors also work with participating companies to create IP strategies to strengthen commercial prospects into the future, both at home and in international markets.
“The knowledge sharing and communication with IP stakeholders made the IPMC interesting to attend,” recalls Chatchanee, who took part in the IPMC in 2023. “The program also updated my knowledge of IP and connected me to global perspectives on the topic.”
Securing global patent protection for Baldes’ balance assessment system
Chatchanee had already secured a patent in Thailand for her Balance Assessment Device in 2022, the year before attending the IPMC. However, with the support of her mentor, Khun Pattarapong of Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property, she successfully secured a patent for her invention via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2023. The PCT, an international agreement between 158 countries, allows inventors to apply for patent protection in multiple countries simultaneously with a single international patent application.
“Preparing to submit a patent application takes time and resources and entails many costs,” notes Chatchanee, explaining why she opted to file an international patent via the PCT. The countries and regions she has chosen to patent her Balance Assessment Device in – China, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the United States – reflect her global ambitions for her invention and its potential for healthcare.
“Baldes’ role is to transform innovation into implementation,” explains Chatchanee. This, she hopes, will see the adoption of her invention in hospitals, schools, workplaces and in people’s homes, equipping individuals and healthcare professionals with a valuable new tool to assess a person’s mobility and broader health. To support this, Chatchanee plans to broaden Baldes’ remit to cover balance health more generally: “Baldes will use its IP to support three areas: Baldes Balance in Health and Wellbeing, Baldes Balance Energy and Baldes Balance Mobility.”
Baldes’ story may have begun with a stumble on a bus, but since that moment Chatchanee has certainly found her footing.
