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 in the business (especially in R&D).
• Advice on inventorship: Handling of inventor notification, compensation to inventors and handling of ownership of new inventions.
• Invention ownership: Drafting and managing assignment documents and helping to ensure that your company owns your innovations.

One of the key services offered is assistance in preparing and submitting patent applications and pursuing these patent applications towards a grant. This includes:

• Strategic advice: Assisting to identify and develop the technical aspects that should be patented.
• Experimental support for the patent application: To obtain well-supported patent applications, good experimental support is often required and we help identify the need for experimental data that can strengthen the patent application.
• Drafting of the patent application: Drafting of the patent application based on input from and discussion with inventors.
• Patent prosecution: Managing the application process, including submitting the patent application and correspondence with patent authorities. Response to requests for injunctions.

Before applying for a patent, it is important to understand whether the innovation is new and whether it can be protected. Sometimes you also need to know about the patent rights of competitors. Bergenstråhle offers comprehensive analyses that include:

• Novelty and patentability assessments: Assessments of whether an idea is novel and has inventive step in comparison to existing prior art.
• Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) analyses: Investigations to ensure that a product can be commercialized without infringing on the patents of others.
• Landscape analysis/competitor surveillance: Continuous (e.g. quarterly) surveillance of patent activities in specific technology areas or regarding certain companies, e.g. named competitors, to keep abreast of technology developments.
• Patent rights status check: Checking the status of patent rights (i.e. whether they are in force) at various patent authorities around the world.

With the globalization of business, it is often important to protect innovations internationally. Bergenstråhle helps with:

• International strategies: Advice on where and how best to protect your inventions globally.
• PCT applications: Help with using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to streamline international patent applications.
• National and regional patent applications: Handling patent applications in specific countries and regions, such as Europe, Asia and North America. Bergenstråhle & Partners has a large network of contacts with patent attorneys around the world.

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

• Portfolio management: Advice and assistance in structuring and optimizing your patent portfolio to maximize business value.
• Contact with patent authorities: Help with registering assignments at various patent authorities, name changes, etc.
• Renewals/annual fees: Handling payments and administrative tasks to keep patents in force.

When a patent application will be granted, Bergenstråhle will help you with advice on the granting phase and advice on granted patents.

• Validation: Advice on granting a European patent (including advice on the possibility of unitary patents).
• Licensing: Support in licensing patents to other companies or partners to generate revenue.
• SPC (supplementary protection certificate): Advice to companies in Life Science/Pharma regarding supplementary protection certificates and handling of requests to extend the patent term for pharmaceuticals and/or plant protection products.

When patent litigations arise, Bergenstråhle offers comprehensive support, including:

• Oppositions: Advice and assistance in defending your patent in the event of an opposition (i.e. when an opponent challenges your granted patent). Also help if you want to oppose a competitor’s granted patent.
• UPC (unitary patent court): Help defend your unitary patent at the Unitary Patent Court. Also help if you are litigating against the other party’s patent at the UPC.
• Infringement analysis/warning letters: Assessing whether another company’s product infringes your patent. Drafting and handling of warning letters.
• Revocation/invalidity actions: Help if you need to challenge the validity of a competitor’s patent.
• Litigation resolution: Legal support and representation in patent litigations and negotiations.

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.

Bergenstråhle is a one-stop shop where our attorneys, who specialize in intellectual property law, collaborate with our patent attorneys. We offer legal services related to patents such as:

• Assignment agreements: Handling assignment agreements to secure the rights to an invention.
• Collaboration agreements: Handling agreements between two collaborators where, e.g., confidentiality and the right to any inventions are handled.
• Employment contracts: Assistance with employment contracts to ensure confidentiality, rights to inventions, etc.
• Trade secrets: Handling of business-critical information related to innovations/inventions.