Your IP may include patents, tradmemarks, designs and trade secrets.
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However, if you are an innovative, problem-solving company and you fail to protect your innovation, then someone you don’t like will probably benefit more from your ingenuity and hard work than you.
However, with a bit of planning, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Inventors are usually the least qualified to recognise when they have just invented something, they are just too close to it to spot their own inventions.
The question you should be asking yourself is: now that we have come up with a new technical solution, how should we protect it?
The majority of patents quietly keep would-be copyists at bay, a ‘Keep Off The Grass’ sign politely encouraging would-be trespassers to come up with their own solutions rather than copy yours.
If you hold the patent, then you call the shots. Most infringers, whilst they might at first protest with indignation, eventually make the commercial decision to stop what they are doing, compensate you, and move on.
The view that patents are weapons for litigation and mutual annihilation is both short-sighted and out-dated.
Today, patents are used more as instruments for collaboration and agreement, the reason two parties are talking to each other in the first place.
As a company, how you can use that IP to add value is a different question and largely depends on what the IP relates to and how important it is to your business.
Many forms of IP are actually free and automatic, there are no legal fees and no registration is required. However, the IP still needs careful curation if it is to add any real value to the business.
Patent Box is part of UK Government’s Industrial Strategy to promote and support innovative UK businesses and dovetails with R&D Tax.
If you have developed a technical solution with the help of R&D Tax, then chances are that you could also benefit from a 10% low tax regime for any profits resulting from its commercial exploitation.
The entry ticket to the scheme is a UK granted patent (or equivalent) on an inventive aspect of the innovation and applies to your worldwide income, even though you may only have a UK patent.
The best time to think about Patent Box is during your R&D phase.
Establishing your Freedom To Operate (FTO) can avoid the pitfalls and delays of costly product recalls or having to rebrand. Finding out who has got what IP and where can only boost your competitor intelligence as well as navigate your own R&D activities to avoid the no-go zones.
Prospective investors will often want to know what steps you have taken to protect your idea and whether someone else has already beaten you to the Patent Office.
If your company pays UK Corporation Tax then you could be benefiting from tax relief down to 10% for any qualifying profits relating to a patented invention. All revenues relating to products or systems containing at least one patented component potentially qualify for tax relief, irrespective how large or small the invention.
The tax savings are potentially significant because they apply to your worldwide sales, even if you only have a single GB patent, as long as you pay UK Corporation Tax on the related profits.
It is UK Government’s way of saying: if you do nothing else to protect your innovation, rather than give it away, at least take out a GB patent and we’ll reduce your Corporation Tax on any related profits.
White Light Consulting will engage directly with your technical team to identify the latent inventions within your products and processes. We will then work with patent attorneys on your behalf to prepare a Patent Box-specific application aimed at an accelerated route through the UK Patent Office (UK IPO) to a granted GB patent.
You will be able to claim for tax relief when the patent is granted, but the first claim can be back-dated up to 6 years.
Take a serious look at the Patent Box – any delay in filing an application is your money left in the taxman’s pocket
White Light Consulting can help you reinvest your Patent Box tax savings to build an IP portfolio for business protection and future licensing and/or export opportunities.
The Patent Box creates an opportunity for SMEs to build a virtuous circle of value creation – an IP portfolio funded by the taxman!
In today’s knowledge economy the majority of a company’s market value resides in its intangible assets: know-how, expertise, reputation, etc. A company’s tangible assets typically only account for around 20% of its net worth, the bulk of the remaining 80% comprises the single largest commercial asset class that underpins all leading companies today: its intellectual assets.
Chief amongst the intellectual assets is the company’s intellectual property (IP) such as its patents, trademarks, designs, and trade secrets. Simply applying for IP rights does not in itself create or add commercial value. IP rights can be costly to secure, but critically they need to be aligned with the business strategy if they are to be seen as anything other than an on-going legal expense with little or no upside.
Expert alignment of the company’s IP with its value proposition and future-proofing the evolution of the business is the domain of the IP strategist
If your company designs and develops innovative products then you will be only too aware of the pressures on commercial R&D to get new products to market with limited resources at hand.
The process of implementing even straightforward improvements on existing products can demand significant investments of time and money.
The simple fact is that all companies face similar pressures to achieve commercial returns from their R&D investments.
It is all the more important then the developments that are successfully launched on the market do not face a potential product recall due to infringement of third party IP rights.
A product recall can be extremely expensive and an infringement lawsuit can be devastating, particularly for an SME.
Even basic IP due diligence can save a lot of time and money spent in litigation that could otherwise have been avoided.White Light Consulting can engage with your engineering team during the development process and survey the IP landscape to determine whether the commercialisation road ahead is clear of all discoverable obstacles.
If a potential obstacle is discovered early enough then White Light Consulting can guide the engineering team on an appropriate technical path around it and/or take steps to remove the obstacle altogether.
Call White Light Consulting to arrange a FREE consultation and discover your freedom to commercial exploitation
If your company pays UK Corporation Tax then you could be benefiting from tax relief down to 10% for any qualifying profits relating to a patented invention. All revenues relating to products or systems containing at least one patented component potentially qualify for tax relief, irrespective how large or small the invention.
The tax savings are potentially significant because they apply to your worldwide sales, even if you only have a single GB patent, as long as you pay UK Corporation Tax on the related profits.
It is UK Government’s way of saying: if you do nothing else to protect your innovation, rather than give it away, at least take out a GB patent and we’ll reduce your Corporation Tax on any related profits.
White Light Consulting will engage directly with your technical team to identify the latent inventions within your products and processes. We will then work with patent attorneys on your behalf to prepare a Patent Box-specific application aimed at an accelerated route through the UK Patent Office (UK IPO) to a granted GB patent.
You will be able to claim for tax relief when the patent is granted, but the first claim can be back-dated up to 6 years.
Take a serious look at the Patent Box – any delay in filing an application is your money left in the taxman’s pocket
White Light Consulting can help you reinvest your Patent Box tax savings to build an IP portfolio for business protection and future licensing and/or export opportunities.
The Patent Box creates an opportunity for SMEs to build a virtuous circle of value creation – an IP portfolio funded by the taxman!
As a business leader knowing your competition and having up to date information of where your competitors are spending their R&D dollars is invaluable to forming your own competitive strategy.
Being informed about your own IP portfolio is one thing, but knowing what IP your competitors have, where there are gaps in the landscape, and how your organisation’s IP compares with that of your competitors can be the difference between making a risky business decision and making an insightful and informed business decision.
Planning to undertake an IP landscaping exercise ahead of moving into a new market or technology area can be a cost-effective strategy, particularly if you think that yours may not be the first organisation to cut new turf.
White Light Consulting can help you to understand and navigate the IP landscape surrounding your business towards establishing your market position.
Having started his career as an experimental physicist at a Cambridge technology consultancy, Andrew soon recognised the importance and value of IP as an asset class in its own right throughout the entire product development lifecycle. Capturing, protecting, and nurturing ideas is fundamental to any R&D business model, but it is through alignment of the IP strategy with the organisation’s goals and objectives that ultimately secures downstream commercial value.
From Cambridge tech, Andrew was invited to join a Fortune 500 US corporation as Chief IP Officer where he was able to develop and hone his skills of exploiting IP as a commercial asset across the full range of business issues, from M&As to customer collaborations to litigation. Fundamental to his business philosophy is his unblinking focus on adding commercial value through IP exploitation and for IP to earn its keep.
As a serial inventor, product development engineer, IP strategist, and businessman, Andrew brings a unique hands-on perspective to the field of management consulting for IP, able to see the big picture without missing the fine details.
Andrew holds a BSc and PhD in experimental and theoretical physics from Imperial College, London.