IP & Legal
IP Strategy & Guidance
Most businesses either ignore their intellectual property or over-spend protecting the wrong thing. I help you see what’s genuinely protectable, what it’s worth, and how the pieces fit, then get you to the right lawyer already prepared.
Where I come in
- What’s protectable. An honest map of your IP: what can be protected, what can’t, and what actually matters commercially.
- The right instrument. Patents, trade marks, certification marks or copyright: knowing which tool fits which asset, and why.
- Strategy and groundwork. The searches, specifications and preparation done properly before the clock starts on expensive professional time.
- Freedom-to-operate thinking. A considered look at where you might be treading on someone else’s rights, or they on yours.
- Commercialisation. Turning IP into value through licensing, partnerships and positioning, not just a certificate in a drawer.
- Coordinating the experts. Managing your IP lawyers and attorneys so you pay them to do the specialist work, not to get up to speed.
How I work
I hold a granted UK patent for online-invigilation technology (filed, allowed to lapse, and restored), and I’ve secured a UK certification mark and run trade-mark and copyright strategy across a real business, including reviewing potential infringements and shaping licensing approaches. I know where the line sits between a business method (which patents won’t cover) and a technical invention (which they might), because I’ve had to live on both sides of it.
An honest note
I’m not a solicitor or a patent attorney, and this isn’t legal advice. What I bring is the commercial strategy and preparation: spotting what’s worth protecting, getting the groundwork right, and knowing exactly when a qualified attorney needs to take the wheel. Handled well, that saves you money and gets you a far better result than turning up to a lawyer with a blank page.
Common questions
Do you file patents and trade marks for me?
I prepare the strategy and the groundwork and coordinate the process, but formal filing and legal opinions are done by qualified patent and trade-mark attorneys. My job is to make sure that when they’re engaged, everything’s ready and the brief is tight.
Patent, trade mark or certification mark: which do I need?
That’s exactly the conversation. Different rights protect different things: an invention, a brand, a standard, a written work. Choosing wrongly is where a lot of money gets wasted, so it’s worth getting clear before anyone files anything.
Can you review whether someone is infringing my IP?
I can give you a considered commercial read and help you prepare; I’ve done this for my own patent. A formal infringement opinion, though, is a lawyer’s job, and I’ll tell you plainly when you’ve reached that point.