Service: Patents, design and trademark applications

Have an idea that you want to legally protect? This service will first assess whether the idea is novel and then make contact with an attorney firm who can take it forward. This service can be valuable at the beginning of a project to ensure that a project acronym can be transformed into a trademark.

What

Preparation for patent applications and design and trademark applications aligned with business needs.

Why

This service is designed to bridge the gap between ideation and intellectual property application filing. If a research group has an idea that they wish to legally protect, this service offers assistance in first assessing whether the idea is novel and then making contact with an attorney firm who can take it forward. This service is also valuable at the beginning of a project to ensure that a project ACRONYM can be transformed in to a trademark.

How

The steps involved in this service are as follows:

  1. A call with the inventor will enable the IPR expert to ascertain technology details of the invention. From the call, it will be possible to determine whether an IP registration might be possible and which type of IP asset is most appropriate.
  2. A brief prior art assessment may be conducted to determine whether the idea is likely to pass the novelty criteria. Guidance may also be provided in the case where relatively similar prior art is found but there is scope to obtain registered IP if specific features are focused, elaborated on or added.
  3. Following the search, a European patent attorney firm will be instructed to draft a patent / design / trademark application on the idea. They will discuss and advise on the filing strategy including the best course of action with regards to filing nationally, regionally and/or internationally.

Deliverable(s)

A written report on the novelty assessment will be provided (optional). If the idea progresses to a patent / trademark / design application, then this will also be a deliverable of this service.

Outcome

Engaging in this service could result in the following outcomes:

  • Potential savings in both time and money by discarding ideas which would not qualify owing to the novelty criteria
  • Actionable steps to facilitate obtaining legal protection for the research group’s ideas
  • A larger portfolio of intellectual assets which can be commercialised, thereby generating revenue for the PRO or university in the future

Ideal for

Research projects that are generating strong research results that should be formally protected by an experienced drafting professional.

Projects that would benefit from early market recognition and where the project acronym may be converted in to a registered mark.