Start-Up Companies

We help a range of start-up companies to secure intellectual property rights. These companies typically have leading edge technology and may be associated with a university research programme and/or have private equity backing.

For these clients, we typically liaise directly with engineers and scientists to understand the key aspects of their inventions and agree an appropriate strategy for securing protection consistent with their business plan. We then draft and file patent application(s) to secure an initial filing date. If development of the inventions is on-going, we may re-visit the application to cover improvements or developments made during the course of the priority year.

The search results from the respective Intellectual Property Offices may have a considerable bearing on the development of the company and we will typically review these with the assistance of the inventors. We are often asked to provide opinions and reports for investors to outline our findings.

As the application progresses, we can assist with filing overseas applications. This initially is in the form of an international application which is subsequently divided into separate national and regional applications. This approach avoids the need to commit early in the development cycle on those territories in which protection will be required.

We often find that the inventors in the start-up companies are unfamiliar with the patent process and we take care to inform them of the different options available as well as the likely costs involved. By providing this information in a timely manner, we allow our clients to plan ahead and to make informed decisions.

Before commencing the patent process, it is often useful for start-up companies to undertake novelty searches to assess the relative merits of their inventions. We can undertake these searches and offer guidance as to the likely scope of protection that might ultimately be secured.