Our patent attorneys, IP solicitors, and trade mark attorneys specialise in protecting and commercialising innovation in the biotechnology sector.
Biotechnology will shape the future of science, medicine, and industry whilst improving human and planetary health, addressing environmental threats, and revolutionising agriculture and food production.
Biotech plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges because of the incredible breadth of areas this platform technology covers. In the therapeutic space, from the continual and increasingly rapid advances in drug development, the production of biopharmaceuticals, gene therapy, and vaccine development and production, through to the development of diagnostic tests, imaging technologies, and other medical devices to enable us to detect, monitor and treat serious medical conditions earlier, biotech is underpinning improvements in human and animal health.
Outside of the medical sphere, biotech is helping to improve planetary health by the constant flow of new ideas across bioremediation and producing more sustainable alternatives to traditional fossil fuels, while much-needed innovation in agriculture and food production is being led by advances in Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and precision agriculture.
Biotech has long been used by humans - from the ancient Egyptian use of yeast to make bread and China’s development of fermentation for brewing, to the much more recent but established use of microbes to produce enzymes for washing powder to the first “modern” biotechnology involving recombinant DNA to produce therapeutic proteins such as insulin, and is set to influence our future in ways that, not too long ago, would have been unthinkable.
As we move to a bioeconomy and away from an oil-based economy, the role that biotechnology and biomanufacturing will play in all sectors provides opportunities for incumbents looking to decarbonise and new players alike.
However, with so much innovation, alongside the opportunities comes increased risk. This means everyone in the biotech sector needs the support of specialist advisers with direct technical experience in these areas and, more crucially, can apply all this experience to successfully navigate the issues and capitalise upon the opportunities you’ll encounter as your business develops.
The smaller end of biotech is very collaborative and non-litigious. However, you may be surprised to find that established players in both the non-therapeutic and therapeutic biotech space are very litigious, and we handle European oppositions on behalf of large players in this space looking to challenge third-party patents.
Because of our extensive experience in oppositions in this space, we are also best placed to defend your patent from challenge.
Whether you are an established corporate, a growing SME, or a young ambitious company, our dedicated multidisciplinary biotech team will help. Our patent attorneys, IP solicitors, and trade mark attorneys know exactly how to steer you through the complex world of intellectual property (IP) rights.
We will make sure your most valuable assets are not only fully protected but managed in a way that will allow you to achieve the highest level of commercial value from all your innovations.
Together we will:
- Identify and explain the types of innovations your company has (or will have, if you are just getting started) and present this in the best way to attract investment
- Recommend the IP rights that best suit your objectives
- Provide budget- and stage-appropriate Freedom to Operate (FTO) advice
- Advise you on the most strategic use of all your IP rights
- Register your patents, designs, and trade marks, and help you protect your trade secrets, throughout the world
- Provide patent, designs, and trade mark infringement and validity opinions
- Conduct patent, designs, and trade mark searches and watches
- Defend your IP rights if you are attacked via a patent or trade mark office or court proceedings
- Enforce your rights against any competitor trying to infringe your rights
- Draft the commercial, IP, and licensing agreements you need to capture, protect, and monetise your IP
- Provide a wider commercial perspective you can use to build your business
