The GeniuZ Pathway

Please submit sufficient information to allow the Zimmer Biomet Team to make an appropriate initial assessment of your idea. However, before you submit your idea, we must point out that Zimmer Biomet invests substantial resources in its own research, development, and marketing efforts. Therefore, we do not undertake any obligation which would in any way limit our ability to use or disclose this information submitted, as it may already be freely available to us from internal or external sources. For these reasons, and to avoid any misunderstanding, Zimmer Biomet receives unsolicited ideas and proposals only on a non-confidential basis and according to the terms and conditions that follow per the submission link.

If you believe you may have proprietary rights in your submission, we urge you to contact your lawyer and take appropriate steps to apply for protection prior to making your submission to Zimmer Biomet.

We receive many submissions that describe a concept or idea for a new product feature, with no suggestion of how that feature may be provided. Patents are only granted for methods, process and/or structure which define the feature, not for the concept of the feature itself. Conceptual ideas can be useful but are typically only a starting point for further work required to develop commercial products and may not be a basis for Zimmer Biomet to pay compensation. One way to test an idea is to ask yourself whether it can be converted into a working prototype. If not, is the idea sufficiently well-defined that person with know how in the area can understand and describe what would be needed to make a prototype? Or would substantial additional development or experimentation be needed?

You can conduct a search of published patents, products, and literature. If you are not able to find your idea or something similar and a knowledgeable person believes it is innovative, there is a greater likelihood that we would consider it for collaboration through GeniuZ. In addition to well-known free search engines, there are a number of free sites that can be used for patent searches including Google patent search (https://patents.google.com/).

If your idea submission is successful following initial review, the GeniuZ team will contact you to agree and execute a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect both parties when undertaking more detailed and confidential discussions.

If you have signed a confidentiality agreement with Zimmer Biomet, we will keep your idea confidential as per the terms and conditions of the confidentiality agreement.

We aim to contact you within 1 month of your submission following an initial concept review by the GeniuZ team. If your idea is successful, we strive to fully assess your idea proposal within a 19-week timeframe. Reviews, however, can require substantial time depending on the complexity of the submission area and availability of our staff at certain periods (e.g. Christmas and Summer holidays).

Zimmer Biomet will create a cross-functional project team, with the aim to further develop your idea. The project team will route the idea through our standard new product introduction gate stage review process, with the aim to take the idea from concept to product.