Our Intellectual Property Services

Invention Harvesting

Invention Harvesting is a service that helps organisations systematically identify, evaluate, and document innovative ideas, processes, or products. This is an important step to take, because you may find they are eligible for IP protection such as patents.

In essence Invention Harvesting is a service that seeks to answer three questions:

Do you have something patentable within your business?
Is it WORTH patenting that something?
If not, what is the best way I can protect my innovation?

Frequently asked questions

When should my company conduct invention harvesting?

A good place to introduce this is once a company has invested in Research & Development (R&D) and wants to ensure it captures and protects its valuable innovations.

This needs to happen BEFORE commercialisation and public disclosure. Another time to do so is when strengthening IP strategy for the company.

When building an IP portfolio to protect against competitors, attract investors, or create licensing opportunities, it is important to ensure you have considered all your valuable IP.

What are the benefits of invention harvesting?

There are many reasons to go down this route, as follows:

Additional tax relief: By patenting innovations in the UK and/or Europe, companies can claim tax benefits on profits derived from those patents through the Patent Box relief, reducing their effective tax rate.
Increasing Company Value: Patents and other catalogued and recorded IP can be added to the balance sheet and add to company valuation.
Maximising IP Opportunities: Ensuring all potential inventions are identified will reduce the risk of missing out on valuable, patentable ideas.
Enhancing Competitive Advantage: Protected innovations create barriers for competitors.
Increasing ROI on R&D: Turning innovations into protected assets captures the value of R&D investments.
Strategic IP Management: By strengthening the company's IP portfolio, you can enhance its valuation while also supporting licensing, partnerships, or sales.

Patent Landscaping

Patent Landscaping is a comprehensive analysis of the patent landscape within a specific technology area, industry, or geographic region. It identifies existing patents, trends, and opportunities to support strategic decision-making.

Frequently asked questions

When would my company need a patent-landscaping exercise?

There are several points in the product-development cycle that would benefit from turning attention to IP.

During Research & Development: The best time to use a patent-landscaping service is at the start of any R&D project. If significant changes take place during the R&D process then they can be accommodated, however an update to the patent landscape would be needed.
When exploring New Markets or Technologies: To understand the competitive IP landscape before entering a new market or investing in a specific technology, patent landscaping is helpful.
For an IP Risk Assessment: When you want to avoid potential infringement risks and identify patents that could pose challenges to your products and processes, a patent-landscaping exercise is a vital step.
Patent Tracking: Monitor competitors' activities and emerging trends helps you keep abreast of developments in the industry.

What are the benefits to patent landscaping?

Again, there are many benefits to using a patent-landscaping service, such as:

Strategic R&D Planning: A worthwhile step to identify gaps in existing patents and focus R&D efforts on areas with fewer IP barriers.
Baseline Technology: Helps a company fully understand the technology baseline before making an R&D tax credit claim.
Competitive Analysis: Insights into competitors' patent portfolios and strategies are important.
IP Strategy Development: For licensing, acquisition, or collaboration opportunities.
Cost Efficiency: The risk of wasted R&D efforts on technologies that are already patented can be reduced.
Regulatory and Market Insights: Offers a clearer understanding of global patent trends and jurisdictional differences.

Freedom to Operate

Freedom to Operate (FTO) is a service that assesses whether a company can commercialise a product or process without infringing on existing IP rights, such as patents or designs.

Key considerations:

FTO is particularly important for companies in innovation-driven industries and those planning international operations.
Obtaining a patent on your product or service does not automatically mean you have FTO; you still need to assess the third-party IP held in your territories of interest.
Not wanting a patent does not make you immune to patent infringement. If you do not desire a patent on your product, you can still infringe patents held by other companies.

Frequently asked questions

When should my company consider an FTO?

Before Launching a Product or Service: To ensure the product or process does not infringe on active third-party IP rights.
Expanding to New Markets: Whether you are looking to sell into a new market or open a new manufacturing plant, you need to ensure that your development will not infringe the IP rights in force there.
Before Securing Investment or Partnerships: Investors or partners may require assurances that there are no IP risks.
When Developing New Technology: Particularly in industries with high patent activity, such as pharmaceuticals, medtech or biotech.