As a start-up, your competitors will probably have more capital at their disposal to bring your ideas to market.
Not only does protection provide security for the future revenues of your business, it can also help you to secure outside investment in your venture and crystallize value in your company.
Recent research from the Federation of Small Businesses found that 30 per cent of small businesses are reliant on IP for at least 75 per cent of their revenue.
A company’s brand name and the names of products should be protected by trade marks and the relevant domain names should be secured as soon as possible.
Advice should be taken on filing a patent application for any product involving an invention, well in advance of any public disclosure of the invention. It may also be possible to file registered design applications to protect the look of a product or its packaging. Registered designs can also protect elements of branding as well as the distinctive look of products.
We can assist with all aspects of intellectual property and can help you to ensure that the strongest possible protections are in place. We are experienced in dealing with start-up companies and can guide you through the process such that the various steps and associated costs are as transparent as possible.
We understand that new ventures may have limited funds. We offer a free half-hour initial consultation at our UK-based offices, with a practitioner experienced in helping both start-ups and established companies entering new product lines and markets.
This consultation will help identify appropriate actions to safeguard your existing and potential new intellectual property rights and will aim to produce a costed action plan. The free advice you will be given will be of high quality, but please note that we will need to take you through our client engagement process, which involves you accepting our written terms of engagement and various internal checks on our part, before formally taking you on as a client of the firm.
To apply for this service, please email us with brief details of your requirements and contact details, including an address, a phone number, and details of your business. The right person will then contact you to make the appropriate arrangements.
Various international treaties and different laws provide a complicated web of potential paths for the protection of ideas for new ventures. This web of options can be navigated by our experienced practitioners to help provide certainty in budgeting and, in many cases, defer costs until after the early start-up phase. It is often possible to provide wide potential coverage during this phase to provide maximum deterrent effect before market entry.
Some new ventures are operated with the intention of being sold or merged in the near future. This is particularly common where venture capital funding is involved. Our professionals are very used to dealing with the demands that this places on IP strategy. Sometimes the funding requirements of new ventures force a particular filing strategy, including initial filings outside Europe. Again, this is something which we can comfortably handle, if needed.
ACID
Anti Copying in Design – offers further information about the value of IP protection in the creative industries.
Wenta
This business support organisation offers a range of assistance and advice covering all aspects of starting and running a business in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Enfield.
UK Intellectual Property Office
This is the official UK government organisation with responsibility for Intellectual Property. There is a lot of information on this site regarding IP, as well as the facility to make your own applications for protection of IP rights. While making your own applications for protection is cheaper than using an attorney, bear in mind that this approach might not be value for money. As for all IP rights, there is a huge amount of law and practice underpinning the registration process. Professional attorney firms such as Cleveland Scott York are experts in this area. Using our services helps make sure the protection for your IP is fit for purpose and within the constraints of the relevant laws.