To do our job, we have to be skilled both technically and legally. On the technical side, some of our experience straddles two or more disciplines, for example bioinformatics where knowledge of both electronics and life sciences is needed.
Many of us have previously worked in industry, for example for Siemens and Motorola. We have also picked up a great deal of knowledge and experience from clients who are industry leaders.
Between us, we are able to support our clients across many business sectors. For more details of what we can offer, please feel free to explore the tabs to the right.
The term “High Technology” covers a vast area of technology. We have a mixture of both private practice and in-house originating experience. The majority of us have electronic engineering backgrounds and some have worked in electronic engineering prior to entering the patent profession. We are therefore able to help companies in most business sectors where this technology is used and needs protecting. Here are some sample technical fields and business sectors where we work or have worked.
| Technology | Sector |
| Acoustics | Aerospace |
| Artificial Intelligence | Subsea |
| Instrumentation | Automotive |
| Nuclear physics | Medical Devices and Instruments |
| Optoelectronics | Semiconductors |
| Telecommunications | |
| Information Technology | |
| Integrated Circuits | |
| Geolocation | |
| Geophysics |
Some of us have also worked as engineers, and so can draw on useful experience, for example writing software.
If you would like to learn more about any specific member of our team, please click on the “Our Team” link above.
This is a rapidly growing and ever-developing area of technology. We have a keen interest in medical device technology and have experience of many diverse technologies in this sector, For example:
- Stents
- Catheters
- Hydrocephalus shunts
- Pacemakers
However, we also have experience in relation to healthcare-related instrumentation, for example:
- Blood viscosity meters
- On-chip analysis tools for testing biological materials
- Thermocyclers
- Glucometers
If you would like to learn more about any specific member of our team, please click on the “Our Team” link above.
To many businesses, their good name is one of their most important assets. This could be the name of your company or one of a number of brands that you trade under. Protection of the name in order to stop others from steal your trade is important.
We help many of our clients with trade mark issues that occur all over the world, with a particular focus on UK and pan-European trade marks. We routinely prepare trade mark applications for our clients. We also advise on the desirability to protect and where you should be looking to seek protection. Our trade marks service supports you along the path to obtaining a registered trade mark, from the beginning where the application is prepared and filed, all the way through to getting the applications granted and renewed. We also help deal with the bumps you may encounter along the way, for example official objections and oppositions lodged by third parties.
Sometimes you may feel that an application for a trade mark by a competitor is not merited or very close to one of your own. In these situations, we can help by advising you on your options, including opposing third party marks.
If you would like to learn more about any specific member of our team, please click on the “Our Team” link above.
The look of your products can be protected in a number of ways.
Design rights protect the aesthetic qualities of your product. A variety of different types of protection is available to designers, depending upon the country or region in which protection is needed. For example, in the US it is possible to protect designs with so-called design patents. In the UK, three types of protection are potentially of value: Registered Designs, Unregistered Design Rights and Copyright. In the European Union (EU), a Designs Regulation exists to provide designers with a basic common level of protection across all the states of the EU. A pan-EU design registration system is also available.
Having a basket of intellectual property rights, for example patents and trade marks, is all very well, but if you do not have a plan and processes in place, your portfolio will lack focus and money is used inefficiently. Worse still, rights can sometimes be lost.
This is where we can help. Many of us have experience having worked in-house for large corporations and so are able to advise you on the best strategy to employ in order to get the most out of your intellectual property budget. We also provide intellectual property audits and scoring.
Not only are we able to guide you through the complexities of securing protection, we can bring our experience to bear in order to suggest where it is best to obtain protection.
Portfolio management is also an important aspect of strategy and we can help you decide when rights should be maintained and when they should be jettisoned!
Whether you are a large concern, an SME or a start-up, we have something to offer in terms of strategic advice to help you make the most out of your intellectual capital.
It is sometimes important to know what’s out there. When buying or buying into a company it is necessary to assess an IP portfolio held or licensed to the company. Are the patents held valid? Are you free to market a product, or does someone else have rights that may prevent you from trading?
To answer these questions (and others), we can help by searching for background technology and similar conflicting technology. We are regularly asked to carry out these kinds of searches and we work with our clients to define the boundaries of the search. We then analyse the results of the searches to determine whether anything of concern has been uncovered. The next step, if there are problems, is to devise one or more strategy to avoid them.
Following an acquisition or merger involving a company owning intellectual property, there is usually a need to record changes of ownership. We are very experienced in this area and have advised on transfers of intellectual property at all levels up to multi-million Dollar transactions. We are able to prepare the necessary documentation to effect transfer as well as interact with the various intellectual property offices around the world to register the transaction.
