Startup wins its first patent

SARASOTA — A startup business with a line of products designed to relieve pain connected to menstrual cramps secured its first U.S. patent.

The firm, Ziivaa, pronounced “zeeva,” is a unit of an investment portfolio run by Sarasota-based products design firm Robrady. The product awarded a utility patent is the Ziivaa Belt, a non-invasive, drug-free device that uses adjustable compression technology to control and eliminate menstrual cramps. Sarasota chiropractor Stephen Lee created the concept for the product in 2007. Lee and Robrady launched a partnership to design the product in 2008.

“Most women use the product for 10 to 15 minutes once each day during their menstrual periods,” Ziivaa Chief Operating Officer Kristen Nichols says in a release announcing the patent. “They report relief from pain for the balance of the day or longer.”

Nichols says Ziivaa has several other U.S. and international patents pending on its products.