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Patents

Protect your inventions and your investment in them

Patents

Patents are a vital tool for protecting new inventions and registering your rights gives you the ability to stop others from exploiting your invention without your permission. Our IP Basics guide provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about patents.

We help businesses and inventors to obtain, manage and enforce their patent rights.

Our patent attorneys are very knowledgeable and experienced. We handle patent work in all technical disciplines, including chemistry, life sciences, engineering, electronics and software. We work with start-ups and SMEs, as well as universities and major international clients, and have a proven track record of successfully obtaining patent protection.

Patenting an invention can be a long and complex process. Our attorneys will guide you through each stage of the patent process and will quickly get to grips with your technology and your business so we can help you to formulate an effective patent strategy.

Our patent services

We guide our clients through each stage of the patent process.

We can advise on the availability of patent protection for your invention and help you to decide whether applying for a patent is appropriate in the commercial circumstances.

Our attorneys are experienced in drafting and filing patent applications and handling prosecution of applications through to grant. Through our network of foreign associates we can also file and process patent applications to protect your inventions overseas.

Our attorneys have significant experience in representing clients in opposition and appeal proceedings, as well as other pre and post grant matters, at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and European Patent Office (EPO). In a contentious situation we can work with you to try to reach an agreed settlement with another party. If necessary, we can work with solicitors and barristers to support litigation.

We frequently advise clients on patent infringement matters. Our attorneys can assist you in enforcement of your patent as well as in handling an allegation of patent infringement from a third party. We can also help you to challenge the validity a third party patent. In a contentious situation we can work with you to try to reach an agreed settlement with another party. If necessary, we can work with solicitors and barristers to support litigation.

Patent protection can be commercialised, and we can advise on the purchase, sale or licensing of patent rights.

To discuss how we can help you obtain and manage patent protection, please contact us to speak to one of our patent attorneys.

Scientific expertise

Our patent attorneys have academic backgrounds in chemistry, physics, engineering and the biosciences, enabling us to advise on patent matters arising from research and development in all fields.

Chemistry & Life Sciences
Engineering
Electronics & Software

Chemistry & Life Sciences

Chemistry & life sciences encompasses a huge range of technologies. Our attorneys have experience protecting a range of innovations, such as new combinations of food ingredients, complex chemical syntheses, genetics, microbiology, medical devices and plant breeding.

Our chemistry & life sciences team includes attorneys with expertise in chemistry, biochemistry and biotechnology. They understand the often complex science underpinning innovations in this field and can advise you on the best strategies to help protect them.

Engineering

Engineering shapes the built world around us. Energy, construction, healthcare and transport are just some of the engineering-focused sectors our attorneys have worked with to protect their innovations. We have also assisted manufacturers and product designers who are developing new products.

Our engineering team have experience in mechanical, electrical and structural engineering. Drawing on their backgrounds in physics and engineering and their knowledge of intellectual property, they can help you to identify and protect valuable inventions.

Electronics & Software

Electronics & software are at the center of modern technology and new innovations can transform the way we work and live. Our electronics & software team have helped to protect innovations relating to semiconductors, imaging, lasers, telecommunications and consumer electronics as well as mobile apps, computer programs and numerical algorithms.

Patenting software poses its own unique challenges. Our attorneys have considerable experience in this specialist field and will be able to provide expert advice to help you protect your software innovations.

Our patent attorneys

Wilson Gunn