ViraHawk

I may have mentioned it before, but whilst some of our clients are having a hard time through the pandemic, we have seen a distinct trend of new enquiries relating to systems that can help us cope with it.  It’s really rewarding to be involved in projects that offer the potential to make a genuine difference to such a universal problem.  This month’s example is an automatic fever screening solution, whose aim is to reduce infection rates and risk in workplaces and venues at times of pandemic.

IT and software provider Sentispec from Denmark has developed a camera solution that is able to scan staff and visitors, and automatically generates an alert when a body temperature is considered to be outside of normal parameters. The camera, which Sentispec wanted to call ‘ViraHawk’, allows nearby staff to be alerted when a high temperature is detected.  This allows reception staff to have a conversation, and possibly conduct some further screening of the person showing the temperature anomaly. ViraHawk is typically used indoors, at key entrances to offices, warehouses, shops and hotels, and already has a number of successful deployments. It’s GDPR-compliant (very important!) and can scan up to 10 people passing through per second.  Whilst it can’t promise to offer a formal diagnosis, it can flag up the visitors who maybe need to be checked a little more closely.  Once deployed, it can keep the number of infections down, which is what we all want.  

Sentispec’s initial questions were quite simple – can we protect the name?  Well, the trade mark application is safely on file, and everything is going smoothly so far!  It’s a nice example of a good trade mark. It succeeds in communicating what the product is about but does that without just resorting to a descriptive phrase.  As such, it sailed past the Trade Mark Registry’s test of whether a trade mark is “distinctive” and was allowed without any queries being raised.  There are no similar marks anywhere near it on the Register, so that was both the necessary hurdles cleared without difficulty.  I often write about the more complex cases that we get involved in, but it’s good to bear in mind that a lot of applications are smooth and straightforward – especially when we’re involved early enough to structure the application so that it fits the Registry’s criteria.

If you’d like more information on the product then do take a look at www.sentispec.com/product/virahawk/, or contact the Managing Director of Sentispec of the UK & Ireland, Phil Ince at +44(0)7765 222 692 or pi@sentispec.com.  Phil loves to demonstrate Virahawk and – naturally – can do it in a socially distanced manner over Zoom.