We have a long-established history of working with academic and research institutions as well as helping university spin-out companies.
These institutions contribute strongly to economic growth by creating exciting new companies that are rich in IP and at the forefront of cutting edge R&D resulting in life-changing discoveries.
Commercially astute universities have developed strategies to extract maximum benefits from their IP portfolios. We support such ventures, and seek to implement innovative and cost-effective IP strategies, giving careful consideration to the timing and number of filings and the territorial scope of protection required.
Our approach is always flexible, and is underpinned by close cooperation between different teams, particularly in areas where there may be overlap between technical disciplines. Many of our attorneys have research experience to PhD or post-doctoral level. We regularly meet with inventors who are leading experts in their field, and appreciate the need to quickly grasp the complex scientific concepts involved in order to translate these into strong IP protection.
Our services to academic clients include
- Assistance in invention harvesting, including liaising directly with inventors and tech transfer teams
- Seminars, webinars and workshops tailored to individual academic client needs
- IP portfolio audit and strategic advice
- Advising on the exploitation of IP rights for revenue opportunities
- Freedom to operate advice including infringement and validity opinions
- Due diligence work for funding, stock market flotation, business or project acquisition or sale
- Supporting licence negotiations and agreements
- Securing and prosecuting patents, trade marks and designs registrations worldwide
- Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs)
- Dispute resolution and litigation both in the UK and coordination internationally
- Search, clearance and watching
- Renewals
