How can I secure funding to help protect and commercialise the intellectual property in my business?

Like obtaining a lease to your business premises or finding and retaining good employees, obtaining and commercialising your intellectual property rights can be costly. There is often a long list of various legal matters start-ups need to address in order to protect and exploit their intellectual property (IP) rights.

At Briffa we offer transparent fixed fees to help our clients manage their budgets accordingly. Depending on our clients’ financial position and growth ambitions, they sometimes consider selling shares or otherwise securing outside investment to assist them.

However there are also some grants available from the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) for businesses of various sizes.

IP funding from the (UKIPO)

The UKIPO recently launched The IP Advance scheme. It is here to help SMEs get a handle on their IP. The scheme offers two tiers of financial support (IP Audit funding and IP Access funding).

The main aim of the scheme is to support SMEs in making the most of their IP assets to help drive business growth.

IP Audit Funding

The first tier, IP Audit funding, subsidises the cost of a detailed IP Audit conducted by a qualified IP professional. At Briffa we have specialist IP solicitors who can prepare these IP Audits for our clients across a wider range of sectors.

If your business is granted the funding, the IP Audit would provide a comprehensive review of your business’ IP assets, identifying both opportunities as well as risks, and recommendations for executing a robust IP strategy.

In particular, your business would receive a bespoke report with actionable and prioritised recommendations, cost projections, and timelines for implementation. Having this holistic IP strategy in place early should help you achieve the plans for your business, whether that is selling it in 5 years or aiming to secure private equity investment in the medium term.

The IP Audit is partially funded by the UKIPO up to £2,250 (inclusive of VAT), with the businesses required to contribute £750 (inclusive of VAT). An essential component of this funding is a mandatory, one-hour, non-chargeable discussion with the IP professional (i.e. one of our specialist IP Solicitors) to go over the report’s findings and next steps.

IP Access funding

The second tier, IP Access funding, is generally designed to help businesses implement the recommendations from their IP Audit and deliver on their bespoke IP strategy.

At this stage, the UKIPO will match your businesses’ costs for implementing the recommendations in the IP Audit up to a maximum contribution of £2,250 (inclusive of VAT).

IP Access funding can be used for a variety of services, including IP management, commercialisation, licensing agreements, IP insurance, valuation, and professional fees related to patents, trade marks, and designs. This is aimed at removing financial barriers to acting on IP recommendations, and helping businesses make informed strategic decisions about their IP assets.

How can I check if you business can apply for this funding?

If you would like help assessing the funding available for an IP Audit, we would suggest you contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

Likewise, if your business has recently received a grant for an IP Audit or IP Access please feel free to contact us so one of our IP Solicitors can help you. Grant recipients typically have two months from the date of receiving the grant to use it, so it is best to seek legal assistance as soon as possible.