SMEs and Investors
Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) have specific requirements. SMEs have varying levels of funding available and it is critical to SMEs that they can tie in patents costs with their cash flow projections. Many SMEs are surprised to learn that the timing of patents costs is predictable to a considerable degree of accuracy. We can therefore set out the likely costs, and the timing of such costs, for one patent application or a whole portfolio of patent applications.
We can also target our advice to provide the most cost efficient ways to prosecute patent applications such as, but not limited to, the careful selection of countries in which patent protection is required.
There are also a number of milestones during the prosecution of patent applications which may be used to assess the likely scope of granted patent. These can be particularly important to potential investors and we advise accordingly.
We also carry out work for potential investors, primarily IP due diligence. We tailor our service to the costs which the investors wish to incur in assessing the risks associated with funding technology-based companies. This may be anything from a brief review of status and entitlement to a thorough validity and freedom-to-operate search or anywhere in between.