Intellectual Property Protection and Optimisation
A startup can do everything right and still lose the business if it mishandles intellectual property. We sit down with Catherine Jewell and John Hull from specialist IP law firm Beck Greener to talk through what an IPO-ready IP strategy actually looks like when budgets are tight, timelines are real, and the market is global. We start with the core question founders and investors both care about: where should you file patents, and how do you build a patent portfolio that matches where you will manufacture and sell rather than chasing an expensive “everywhere” strategy. From there, we widen the lens beyond patents. We dig into why trademarks and branding are often the most cost-effective IP protection a growing company can secure early, and how a pending patent application can create a valuable window to establish reputation and market share. We also get practical about confidentiality: how NDAs fit in, how to limit what you share while building prototypes, and why “public disclosure” can happen in surprising ways. One of the most urgent parts of the conversation is modern disclosure risk. We unpack how AI tools, automated meeting notes, and non-siloed chat systems can effectively leak an invention before filing, plus how the US grace period works and why it does not save you in most other jurisdictions. We close with the patent versus trade secret decision, what reverse engineering means for your strategy, and how IP assets show up in valuation and IPO or trade sale due diligence, including other rights like designs and copyright and the role of tax incentives such as patent box regimes.
