It is important to have knowledge about your company’s innovation process. Bergenstråhle offers advice on:

• Invention harvesting: Establishing a process in your company to identify new innovations and designs in the business (especially in R&D).
• Advice on managing external design collaborations, license and royalty arrangements.
• Design ownership: Drafting and managing transfer documents and assisting to ensure that your company owns your designs.

One of the key services offered is assistance with preparing and submitting design applications and progressing them towards a grant. This includes:

• Strategic advice: Assistance to identify and develop the design elements and aspects that should be protected.
• Design application preparation: Preparation of the application based on input from and discussion with you, including selection of the best visual media and views.
• Design prosecution: Managing the application process, including submitting the application and correspondence with patent authorities. Response to injunctions.

Before applying for design protection, it is important to understand whether the design is new and whether it can be protected. It is also good to know the design rights of competitors. Bergenstråhle offers comprehensive analyses that include:

• Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) analyses: Investigations that ensure that one can commercialize a product without infringing on others’ registered designs.
• Landscape analysis/competitor surveillance: Continuous (e.g. quarterly) surveillance of design activities in specific design areas or concerning certain companies, e.g. named competitors, to keep up to date with technological developments.

When business is international, it is important to protect designs globally. Bergenstråhle assists with:

• International strategies: Advice on where and how best to protect your designs globally.
• National and regional design applications: Handling design applications in specific countries and regions, such as Europe, Asia and North America. Bergenstråhle & Partners has an extensive network of expert attorneys around the world.

After a design application has been granted, it is important to manage it effectively. Bergenstråhle offers services such as:

• Customs surveillance: So-called application for action (AFA) to prevent the entry of pirated copies into Sweden or the EU.
• Portfolio management: Advice and assistance in structuring and optimizing your design portfolio to maximize business value.
• Contact with patent authorities: Assist with registering assignments at various patent authorities, name changes, etc.
• Renewals/annual fees: Handling payments and administrative tasks to keep design rights in force.

When a design dispute arises, Bergenstråhle offers comprehensive support, including:

• Oppositions: Advice and assistance in defending your design in the event of an opposition (i.e. when an opposing party challenges your applied/granted design). Also assist if you want to oppose a competitor’s design to prevent a competitor from obtaining protection for an identical or similar design.
• Infringement analysis/warning letters: Assessing whether another company’s design infringes your protected design. Drafting and handling of warning letters.
  – Cancellation/validity actions: Assisting if you need to challenge the validity of a competitor’s design or if your design is challenged.
  – Dispute resolution: Legal support and representation in design disputes and negotiations e.g. termination, coexistence, licensing or assignment.

To get the most out of your design rights, Bergenstråhle offers advice on:

• Intellectual property strategy (IP strategy): Development of IP strategy, including design strategy, that is in line with the company’s overall business objectives and business plan.
• Risk management: Identification and management of risks related to design and intellectual property.
• Due Diligence: Assistance with managing design-related issues during due diligence, e.g. when raising capital.
• Valuation of intellectual property rights: Assistance with the valuation of design rights.
• Identification of design rights, so-called Asset Insight: Identification and review of all your company’s intellectual property rights, e.g. trade secrets, etc.
• Training in IP and design: Offers training/workshops etc. to increase the knowledge of IP and design in companies. These trainings/workshops are customized according to your needs.

To get the most out of your patent rights, Bergenstråhle offers advice on:

• Intellectual property strategy (IP strategy): Development of IP strategy, including patent strategy, that is in line with the company’s overall business objectives and business plan.
• Risk management: Identification and management of risks related to patents and intellectual property.
• Due Diligence: Assistance in dealing with patent-related issues during due diligence, e.g. when raising capital.
• Valuation of intellectual property rights: Assistance with the valuation of patent rights.
• Identification of patent rights, so-called Asset Insight: Identification and review of all your company’s intellectual property rights, e.g. trade secrets, etc.
• Training in IP and patents: Offers training/workshops etc. to increase the knowledge of IP and patents in companies. These trainings/workshops are customized according to your needs.

• Assignment agreements: Management of assignment agreements to secure the rights to a design, e.g. for external collaborations.
• License and royalty agreements to ensure the best commercial arrangement.
• Employment contracts: Assistance with employment agreements to ensure confidentiality, rights to inventions, designs etc.
• Trade secrets: Management of business-critical information related to innovations/designs.