Posts by Vicki Strachan

Can patents play an essential role in business growth? A patent can be a hugely powerful monopoly. Not only can it stop your competitors from doing the same, and protect your revenue stream, but it can also act as a deterrent to others trying to enter your market. You may start your business around a…

A patent is a piece of intellectual property (IP) that protects technical innovation. If you have a patent for your product, process, system (or part of it), you can stop your competitors from doing the same for up to twenty years. What is the difference between patents and other registered IP? Patents protect technical innovation. …

Do you think your invention is too “obvious” to be patentable? You’re not alone. I so often hear inventors dismiss their inventions, or elements of them, as “obvious” and, therefore, unpatentable that I feel moved to write again about this often misunderstood (or misinterpreted) term. So here’s the truth about “obviousness” in patent law. The…

Technical evolution is impossible without invention. But without patents, invention would be severely impaired because why would you (or anyone) spend vast sums of money and resources on search and developing new technology if you had no means of preventing others from copying it as soon as it goes public? That’s one of the main…

The Role of a Patent Attorney: Safeguarding Innovation and Intellectual Property In a rapidly evolving world driven by innovation and technology, the protection of intellectual property has become increasingly important. Entrepreneurs, inventors, and businesses invest an enormous amount of time, effort, and resources into creating unique and inventive products or processes. To safeguard these innovations…

Do you like my ‘photograph’? I created it in a matter of minutes using DALL-E2. But do I own the copyright? If not, who owns the copyright in an image created using an AI art generator? It’s a good question. And there are two parts to it really: what are you allowed to do with…

…and how can it help your IP Strategy? What is an NDA? ‘NDA’ stands for ‘Non Disclosure Agreement’, and is often used interchangeably with ‘Confidentiality Agreement’.  It is a contract between you and one or more other parties, setting out the conditions under which confidential information will be shared between you.  Types of NDA There…

A transition across the global landscape toward knowledge-based economies has led policymakers to prioritise unlocking intangible asset funding. So what can you do to give yourself the best chance of successfully financing your innovation with IP? Facts and figures A study performed by merchant bank Ocean Tomo found that, in 2020, 90% of the value…

It is true to say that China’s intellectual property regime has earned a bad reputation in the past. And its reputation for copying others’ products and selling them for less is even worse. Which has led many innovators to think, “it isn’t worth patenting my invention in China”. However, that is changing for the better…