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World IP Day 2026 — Recognized Innovator

Parag Mallick

  • Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
  • Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.

Recognized as the co-founder and chief scientist behind Nautilus Biotechnology’s single-molecule proteomics platform. His work helped shape the Iterative Mapping approach, designed to measure proteins one molecule at a time and reveal biology that existing tools often miss. 

Certificate of Recognition

Top IP Innovator, Proteomics & Single-Molecule Analysis · 2026

Nautilus Patents (last 5 years)
0 +
First Filing
2018
USPTO Art Unit Focus
1675 / 1634
Role
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
Presented by InspireIP

World IP Day Recognition Series · 2026

Nautilus patents, last 5 years
0 +
Filed in 2021 alone
0 +
Recognition category
0 Life Sciences
The Recognition

Measuring the proteome one molecule at a time

On World IP Day 2026, InspireIP recognizes Parag Mallick, co-founder and chief scientist of Nautilus Biotechnology, for his inventor footprint and scientific leadership at the company.

The recognition is based on Nautilus’s patent activity and public patent records where Parag is named as an inventor. His filings cover single-molecule protein identification, protein immobilization on high-density arrays, iterative probe-based detection systems, and computational methods for proteoform quantification.

These patents protect the core of Nautilus’s Iterative Mapping technology, an approach Parag came up with in 2016. The approach fixes individual protein molecules to a chip and identifies them through repeated rounds of antibody binding and imaging.

Parag co-founded Nautilus in 2016 with Sujal Patel to translate this research into a platform designed to make deep proteomics more accessible to labs. His academic background in computational biology and proteomics helped shape the scientific foundation behind the company’s technology.

Single-Molecule Proteomics
Iterative Mapping
Protein Arrays
Proteoform Analysis
Computational Biology
Biomarker Discovery
Patent Footprint

A portfolio shaped around seeing proteins differently

2016–2018

Parag Mallick and Sujal Patel co-found Nautilus Biotechnology (originally Ignite Biosciences) in San Carlos, California. Parag files the company's first patents covering single-molecule protein analysis methods, with filings initially under the Ignite Biosciences name.

2019–2021

The portfolio grows to 17 filings across three years, peaking at 12 in 2021. Nautilus raises $76M in Series B led by Vulcan Capital and Bezos Expeditions, then goes public via SPAC merger with Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III, raising approximately $345M in gross proceeds and listing on NASDAQ under the ticker NAUT.

2022

11 more patents filed, covering advanced methods for proteoform detection, protein immobilization techniques, and computational identification workflows.

2023–2026

Filing activity pauses as Nautilus focuses on technology development and validation. The company places its first Voyager Platform externally at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, launches the Iterative Mapping Early Access Program, and unveils the Nautilus Voyager Platform at US HUPO 2026.

Proteomics & Single-Molecule Analysis

An early-stage platform with deep IP protection

Nautilus Biotechnology is classified by the USPTO as a Small Entity. Its patent portfolio, concentrated in the biotech and organic chemistry art units, protects the foundational methods behind Iterative Mapping, including single-molecule detection, protein array fabrication, probe-based identification, and computational proteoform analysis.

Patents, last 5 years
+
Peak year (2021)
+ Filings
USPTO entity status
Small Entity
Art unit focus
1675 / 1634
"Leading an innovation program is harder than inventing on your own. It means choosing what to file, who to credit, and where to invest, over and over, for years. The leaders we recognize on World IP Day have done that consistently, and built something that compounds."

Sam Zellner

Founder, InspireIP · Inventor · Innovation Leader

About Nautilus Biotechnology

Built in California, preparing to transform proteomics worldwide

Co-founded in 2016 and headquartered in Seattle with R&D in San Carlos and San Diego, California, Nautilus Biotechnology is developing a single-molecule protein analysis platform for quantifying the proteome. 

The company’s Iterative Mapping technology fixes individual proteins to a high-density chip and identifies them through repeated rounds of antibody binding and imaging, enabling researchers to see proteins and their functional variants at a resolution that existing mass spectrometry and affinity-based tools cannot match.

Nautilus has active research collaborations with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Genentech, Mount Sinai Health System, the Allen Institute, and Weill Cornell Medicine, with applications spanning Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, aging, and drug development. The company went public in 2021 and has raised over $450 million in total funding. The pace of filing shown above is what makes that kind of scientific and commercial ambition defensible.

IP Day 2027

Know an IP innovator who deserves recognition?

Each year we recognize the inventors and IP leaders behind the portfolios that protect what their companies create. That includes founder-inventors whose contributions often go unmarked. Nominate someone for next year’s list.

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