Grant Assistance – Evaluating IP and Developing an IP Strategy

The IP Advance Programme

The IP Advance programme is a government-funded initiative developed to ensure that businesses with growth potential receive high-quality guidance and advice through dedicated channels.

The programme has two parts:

1. IP Audit: £2,250 (inc. VAT) funding, with £750 (inc. VAT) contribution from the business required, towards the cost of an IP audit by an IP professional.

2. IP Access: £2,250 (inc. VAT) funding, with a 50% contribution from the business required, for IP professional advice to progress an IP management strategy or implement recommendations from an IP audit.

The scheme is administered by the following local bodies in different parts of the UK:

Scotland

• Scottish Enterprise: IPTeam@scotent.co.uk
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise: www.hie.co.uk/contact-us/general-enquiries/ (website contact form)
• South of Scotland Enterprise: https://www.southofscotlandenterprise.com/ (website contact form)

England

• Innovate UK Edge: contact@innovateukedge.ukri.org. 

Wales

• Welsh Government: intellectual.property.information@gov.wales

Northern Ireland

• Northern Ireland Intellectual Property Team: tau-ip@investni.com

The programme is a highly cost-effective route to obtaining commercially valuable advice on issues such as IP asset identification, assessing strengths and weaknesses associated with those IP assets, and developing an effective strategy for using IP assets to support business development or growth.

Why Choose Us?

Once you are awarded IP Advance funding you are free to select any patent attorney firm you wish to undertake the audit and prepare a report. We believe that there are several aspects of our offering which differentiate us from our competitors:

• We offer both the initial information-gathering meeting and the post-audit review meeting (up to 1 hour in duration each) free of charge.
• As a firm we specialise in advising on engineering, high-tech, software and chemical subject matter in the patent area, as well as having experts across all sectors in the trade mark and design areas.  Therefore, in addition to being relevant for conducting the audit itself, our attorneys are well qualified to handle follow on work recommended in the IP Audit report. 
• We have conducted numerous of these audits in the past (at least 70 as of June 2024). We have firmly established relationships with representatives of the economic development agencies who administer the IP Audit funding on behalf of the UK Intellectual Property Office.
• Our attorneys include a former UK Patent Office examiner which can sometimes be advantageous when advising you in relation to UK patent matters.

Our Three-Step Process

In order to ensure that you derive the maximum possible benefit from the available IP Audit funding, we adopt the following three-step approach aimed at making sure our advice is commercially relevant to your specific needs:

1. Initial Information-Gathering Meeting

The purpose of such a meeting is to ensure that we have a good understanding of your current and/or proposed product(s) and/or service(s), and to discuss any known or potential IP issues that are giving you concern. This preliminary review will allow us to focus and prioritise the issues to be covered within the IP Audit report.

2. Defining the Scope of the Audit

Based on the information gathered at our meeting, we can then conduct the necessary work and prepare the IP Audit report highlighting any recommendations and associated costs. Common areas of focus are listed below, but our work will be customised to cover the particular issues identified during our meeting:

• Assess the inherent patentability of your new product(s) and/or service(s)
• Conduct a professional pre-filing patentability search relating to any new product(s) and/or service(s) and summarise the results in an easily digestible format
• Assess the impact of prior public disclosures (if any) on the validity of any patent application filed
• Assess whether or not any of the patent rights located via the pre-filing patentability search would represent a barrier to your freedom to make/use/sell your product(s) and/or service(s) in the United Kingdom
• Assess the suitability of registered designs as an additional or alternative form of IP protection
• Assess the inherent registrability of any proposed brand names or logos
• Conduct a professional availability search covering the United Kingdom for any proposed brand names or logos
• Provide advice on any other categories of IP appropriate to your product(s) and/or service(s)
• Making you more aware of any issues, risks and opportunities surrounding IP, e.g. including IP ownership, confidentiality etc.

3. Post-Audit Review Meeting

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the conclusions and recommendations set out in the IP Audit report. This meeting can also involve a representative from the relevant economic development agency who can provide advice on any further financial assistance that may be available to you in order to implement the recommendations aimed at improving your IP position. If you require any further advice on this please contact us.