def METHOD_NAME(cls, existing_path_string: str):
    property_name, protocol_ids = ProtocolPath._to_components(existing_path_string)
    if any(x is None or len(x) == 0 for x in protocol_ids):
        raise ValueError("An invalid protocol id (either None or empty) was found.")
    return ProtocolPath(property_name, *protocol_ids)