​​The Patent Management Lifecycle

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Discover​

 

A key activity is discovering and understanding your IP situation.  This means looking both inwardly to uncover the intellectual property you already have or might develop and outwardly to understand third-party rights and how they might impact your business.

 

I can help with:

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• IP Audits - identifying existing IP and assessing its protection and value;​

• Invention Mining and Patentability Analysis - uncovering protectable innovations your team has developed;​

• Prior Art Searching - evaluating whether innovations are truly novel and worth protecting;​

• Patent Landscape Analysis - mapping competitive IP positioning in your technology area;​

• Patent Watching Services - monitoring competitor patent activity relevant to your business;​

• Patent Infringement and Validity Opinions - assessing third-party patents that may pose risks;​

• Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Analysis - identifying patents that could affect your products or services; and​​

• Patent Portfolio Analysis – evaluating a patent portfolio (either your own or another’s) to identify strengths and weaknesses and, optionally, performing due diligence to support an acquisition, sale or investment.

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Protect

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Protecting your position means both acquiring and defending the rights to your own innovations and managing risks from competitors' patents.

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I can help with:

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• Patent Drafting & Prosecution -​​

• drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent applications in the UK, Europe, and international (PCT) patent applications;​

• managing the filing and prosecution of foreign patent applications via local attorneys;​

• instructing translation and validation of European patents; and​

• instructing payment of patent renewal fees.​​​

• Contentious Proceedings & Appeals -​​

• defending patents against revocation, invalidity and opposition proceedings;​

• challenging third-party patents through revocation, invalidity and opposition proceedings, or filing of third-party observations; and​

• filing and prosecuting both ex parte and inter partes appeals from decisions of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) or the European Patent Office (EPO).​​​​​​

• Strategic IP Advice -​

• evaluating design-around options to navigate third-party patent rights; and​

• advising on other ways to protect your commercial position, such as through the use of trade secrets, defensive publications or other IP rights such as trade marks.

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Leverage

 

Patents are business assets, and their real value lies in how they are used.  Some benefits may arise passively – a strong patent portfolio can deter competitors and attract investors.  In other cases, a more active approach may be needed to enforce your rights or to fully realise the commercial value of your intellectual property.

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I can help with:​

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• Patent Commercialisation Strategies - advising on different ways in which your patent portfolio could be commercially leveraged, such as through licensing;

• Patent Claim Mapping – analysing the alignment of a product or service with a patent’s claims;

• Patent Infringement Opinions – providing an opinion as to whether a third-party product or service infringes the claims of a patent; and​​

• Patent Portfolio Optimisation and Pruning – identifying which patents to maintain or abandon.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​