Glossary

Financial Planning

Commercialisation involves time, patenting and working with lawyers where all costs may be high. Highbury will assist you to forecast and contain your costs.

Business Plans

We can help you undertake market research specific to your business plan.

Competitor assessment

Highbury can carry out worldwide competitor reviews which enable you to plan your future and implement constructive, commercial business decisions. These reviews can be undertaken at specific points in time or on a continuous basis.

Benchmarking

When in or out licensing, knowing that your commercial judgements and decisions don't fall below the market norms enables you to act from a position of strength.

TTBER - Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulations

TTBER is just one example of a European legal change that will alter the way in which you can implement the technology licensing arrangement. This is a controversial regulation dictated from Brussels where parties to licences will have to meet certain market share tests or face legal uncertainty.

Regulatory Guidance

The law relating to patents, regulatory affairs and the way in which you commercialise your technology are constantly changing. Highbury can help you keep abreast of these changes and remain compliant.

Choosing the best form of protection for your intellectual assets:

Reasons for patenting or protect your Intellectual Property or Intellectual Assets?

Commercial companies are not generally interested in technology that does not have patent cover (protection)
Pharmaceutical companies aim to make a profit, which is not possible without protection from copying
Without commercial backing for development and commercialisation, your technology will not reach the market that it is designed for. Financial backers won't invest without this form of protection.

Patent or publish?

Filing a patent application before publication will protect your rights in most of the world. However, the system is different in the US, where the law vests protection to the source that first creates the invention, not to the first to file the patent application.
Publishing prior to patent application means you will lose your right to patent, as you will no longer have a novel product.

Patents

A patent protects your rights for 20 years, although for pharmaceutical products a small extension maybe possible via Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs)

A patent gives its owner monopoly rights for manufacture, use and sale.
It enables investment in commercialisation because it allows its owner to prevent copying of the invention by prosecution of infringers.
It facilitates distribution to those in need.

Patent claims following official patent examination will frequently vary from one country to the next in terms of what is allowed within the claim. Where this has been the case and the changed claims are thought to alter the potential commercial value of the IP, or the potential to out-license or commercialise the IP, then these claims need to be assessed on a country-by-country basis. This process allows informed judgements to be made regarding the commercial value of the IP in each country.

Email us for a free IP Patent Procedural Review.

Copyright

Copyright generally relates to literary or artistic works but as with patents, copyright has followed technology and now extends to photographic works, musical works and computer programmes. Copyright is universal and long, applying for 70 years after the death of the author.

Design Right

Designs and industrial designs consist of features that establish and create an article's appearance. Examples of designs include the shape of a car body, the pattern on wallpaper, the shape and style of designer clothing or the configuration of controls on a household appliance. Designs are essentially artistic works. In Europe we can now apply for Community Design Registration, which provides protection for 25 years and has other key benefits: it provides an exclusive monopoly and comes with a Certificate of Registration showing evidence of ownership.

Brands

Strong brands that carry commercial value speak for themselves – telling the world simply and with strength what the product is. Once a product has been successfully branded, a defensive monitoring strategy is needed to protect the brand worldwide.

Registered Trademarks

A trademark is any type of sign that distinguishes the products and services of one seller from those of another. A sign may include words, logos, pictures, or a mixture of these. Essentially, a trademark is a badge or sign of origin, used so that customers will recognise the product and be aware of its source or seller. You can register a trademark if it meets the following criteria:

It must be distinctive for the goods or services to which it will apply
It is not descriptive; if you have a product that calms a baby, you probably can't trademark it as 'BabyCalm').
It must not be deceptive or immoral and must be in keeping with the law
It must not be similar or identical to any earlier trademarks for the same or similar products or services.

Choosing the best form of protection for your intellectual assets:

Registered Domain Names
Many companies offer expensive services and some are unscrupulous buying your name and offering it back to you for a high price with a time deadline – don’t be fooled!. Domain name registration need not be costly (it should be well under £100 for two years of registration) but you must check on the central register that your proposed name does not pre-exist> We can help you with this.

Choosing the best form of protection for your intellectual assets:

Trade secrets or know-how
Know-how is an area of knowledge that is essentially a company secret. It is the expertise required to produce the core products or technologies.

For a pharmaceutical company, individual inventor or research institute, this may be some specific laboratory detail that was not included in the patent. Know-how is always very important and can be easily lost because the people working in the business do not recognise its value. For example, at the post-conference bar when alcohol and interesting conversation can relax the tongue! There are specific actions that you must take to protect your know-how and Highbury can help you implement them.

Infringement management

Highbury will give you specific steps that need to be undertaken in a set manner in order to protect your IP position.

Patent Portfolio Management

If you are an individual, a small company or University Technology Transfer Group then you may struggle to manage a number of different patents, as it is a complex process. We can provide management systems that will enable you to cope more easily by knowing what patent actions and costs will be required in the future.

IP valuation

IP valuation is required in a number of situations – prior to seeking funds and prior to sale, licensing or other forms of commercialisation. You should not enter a negotiation without being fully aware of the current and future potential of your intellectual assets. We can help you by either building the valuation systems or by undertaking specific research to provide a valuation for you.