Corporate
Services
Our services for our corporate clients include:
- Drafting
- Filing
- Prosecution
- Grant and validation
- Oppositions
- Appeals
- Portfolio management
- Due diligence
- Infringement opinions
- Watching services
- Novelty searches
- Assignments
- Licensing
Our corporate clients typically have in-house counsel responsible for an international portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, designs and trademarks. We are responsible for the filing, prosecution and general management of the European portion of these cases.
At Karssen, we have the capability to handle all aspects of patent prosecution in Europe, from the initial filing of a new application, through to grant and opposition proceedings, as appropriate. We tailor our services for each client, ranging from a mailbox and docketing function through to a universal portfolio management service.
We review all new applications prior to filing and make appropriate amendments to comply with the latest developments in European practice. This approach streamlines the prosecution and grant procedures and ensures that our clients acquire the broadest possible protection. We advise on appropriate filing and validation strategies to ensure that relevant protection is secured for key products and to prevent the introduction of competing products.
We keep in-house counsel up-to-date on changes in European practice and inform them of the rationale behind these changes. This enables our clients to adapt their internal procedures to reflect best practice, often helping them to refine their drafting and prosecution techniques as well as their filing strategies.
We provide a watching service to monitor competitor’s activities and produce periodic reports to provide updates on the prosecution of applications and on the allowance of patents. This provides a useful resource for those clients needing to police the activities of their competitors.
We regularly challenge the grant of European patents, either when the applications are pending or post-grant in opposition proceedings conducted centrally before the European Patent Office. To support this function, we can undertake searches to identify prior art relevant to novelty and inventive step.
We regularly undertake clearance searches and provide freedom to operate and infringement opinions. These enable our clients to introduce new products and technologies with peace of mind.