There is more to intellectual property (IP) than meets the eye. Overlooking the hidden parts can put your IP at risk. In biotech, investors are keen to see a robust IP strategy. Patented technology justifies the substantial investments needed to bring new medicines through the regulatory pipeline. An IP strategy also signals your professionalism as an entrepreneur. Taking IP seriously from the start gives you a big advantage.

The helpful employee

Let’s have a look at four examples to show what could go wrong. The first concerns a fictional biotech firm with 40 employees and an open culture built on trust. A client calls the receptionist and asks for the technical drawings of one of the company’s products. However, these drawings are a trade secret. There is no policy in place. The receptionist has access to the drawings and, wanting to be helpful, shares them without requesting a signed non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The client uses the drawings to develop their own version of the product and markets it aggressively. The result? In court, the company faces an uphill battle and may not be able to prove it treated the drawings as a trade secret at all.

When collaboration goes sour

The second example concerns an early-stage start-up that aims to collaborate with a contract research organization (CRO). They have clear agreements in place on foreground IP (the IP that results from the collaboration). All other details are covered by the CRO’s standard collaboration contract. The start-up brings forward many new ideas and suggestions during the collaboration. However, none of these are in writing. At one of their meetings, the CRO informs the start-up that it will file for a patent. The start-up claims that the patent is inspired by their ideas and suggestions. According to the CRO, it further developed the ideas that were brought into the collaboration. As far as the CRO is concerned, the invention is its own. Without written evidence of the start-up’s contributions, the CRO’s position is difficult to challenge. The start-up has lost any claim to inventorship, as well as any share of what may become a valuable patent.

Freedom to operate

In the third example, a biotech company has multiple lines of research and expects to enter the market soon with a new innovation. The company has already announced its new product and the techniques used in production at two high-profile conferences. Shortly afterwards, a letter arrives from a competitor’s lawyer: the new product infringes on a patent application filed by the competitor. The company is forced to postpone the product release until it can negotiate a licence fee with the competitor – assuming the competitor is willing to grant one. By announcing the product and technology publicly, the company alerted a rival who might otherwise not have noticed the overlap. The underlying failure is that the company thought of a freedom-to-operate analysis before investing in the launch.

Going public and the novelty requirement

In the final example, a university spin-off developed a novel medical product. There is a lot of interest in the start-up, prompting it to give interviews and product presentations. The company is explicitly asked to demonstrate its new product, so the audience can appreciate its innovative qualities. At the same time, the company is looking for investors to help bring the product to the market. As IP is a key concern for potential investors, the company wants to file a patent. One of the core requirements for a patent is novelty. But the company already disclosed its product publicly. Now it is wrestling with the novelty requirement: only parts of the invention that were not shown, if any, can still form the basis of a patent filing. The result is a narrower patent at best, no patent at all at worst. For a company built on investor confidence, that is a serious problem: weak IP weakens the pitch, and no IP can end the conversation entirely.

Take IP seriously

The above examples share a common thread: overlooking IP during product development can be costly. Seemingly small omissions like an undocumented conversation or a presentation given too soon can lead to loss of IP, or lost investors. None of these failures are difficult to prevent. It starts with taking IP seriously from day one.

The Netherlands Patent Office is happy to help you. They offer free 1-on-1 consult with a patent advisor: a useful starting point for building an IP strategy.

About the Netherlands Patent Office

The Netherlands Patent Office helps entrepreneurs who want to protect their innovation, find collaboration partners, or secure funding. Whether you are a start-up, scale-up or SME, our support is confidential, independent and free of charge. From walk-in advice sessions at tech hubs to tailored patent search advice: our advisors work across the country to support you.

Als innovatieve ondernemer wil je misschien ook de grens over. Maar heb je dan al nagedacht over intellectueel eigendom, internationale wetgeving en bescherming van je ideeën? De Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) helpt je graag op weg.

Wij delen alvast 6 nuttige tips van RVO, waarmee jij je internationale plannen een slimme basis geeft. Wat kun je verwachten?

🔹 Tip 1: Denk goed na over geheimhouding bij internationale beurzen
🔹 Tip 2: Voorkom onbewuste inbreuk op IE-rechten van anderen
🔹 Tip 3: Registreer je rechten in de landen die er voor jou toe doen
🔹 Tip 4–6: Over procedures, Europese uitputting én gratis advies van een octrooiadviseur

Daarnaast lees je het verhaal van start-up Speaksee, die hun internationale strategie slim hebben opgebouwd met hulp van RVO.

👉 Nieuwsgierig geworden? Lees alle tips, uitleg en het praktijkvoorbeeld op de pagina van RVO over internationaal ondernemen en IE-rechten.

Financing is the key to innovation and growth for innovative entrepreneurs. Want to know how protecting your intellectual property (IP) can significantly increase your chance of success? Benefit from the tips from the Netherlands Patent Office, discover how to conduct an effective patent search and learn from the experiences of other entrepreneurs.

Forms of financing

As an innovative entrepreneur, you want to develop and market your product or service so your company grows. You may often turn to the bank for a traditional loan. But did you know there are other ways to finance your new product or service? Ways such as subsidies and schemes, crowdfunding, or attracting investors. It depends on your company and the product idea that suits you. If you ensure proper preparation so that you know the financing options, you have a greater chance of success in finding capital. Do you want to attract the attention of investors? Then, recording your intellectual property and investigating existing patents is very important. 

Discover our 5 tips to protect your innovation:
 

Tip 1: Investigate all protection options

As an entrepreneur, you register your invention with a patent to prevent counterfeiting. But there are also other ways to protect your ideas:

• Patent law: for technical products or production processes.
• Copyright and neighboring rights: for texts, images, and performances.
• Trademark law: for logos, words (names), colours, sounds, and shapes of companies, products, and services.
• Trade name law: for the name of a company.

Read more about protecting your idea or innovation

Tip 2: Protect your intellectual property in time

It is often intelligent to consider intellectual property early in the innovation process. This is also evident from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) research. Start-ups that apply for a patent or other form of intellectual property right (IP right) at an early stage are up to 10 times more likely to receive financing than start-ups that do not.

Practical example

Start-up Weco (the Wave Energy Collective) develops innovative solutions to produce electricity from ocean waves. The company is very aware of the importance of protecting its invention and attracting investors. Weco now has 2 patents.

“We invest a lot of time and money in developing our innovation, which is why we are happy that there is such a thing as intellectual property. It also gives investors the certainty that somebody cannot simply copy.” Luc Hogervorst, Co-owner of Weco

Tip 3: Don’t give too much away about the technique

Novelty is a requirement for a strong patent. So, the technology you want to protect with a patent may not have been made public before the date of your patent application. Not even by yourself. Therefore, be careful with the information you reveal to others, for example, in joint R&D with other parties, discussions with investors, or crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is a way to raise money from the general public (the crowd). This is often done via online crowdfunding platforms, where people can invest in various projects or initiatives. This way, you receive immediate financing without going to banks or applying for subsidies. However, it is essential to pay close attention when using crowdfunding. Keyboard developer Wooting also experiences this importance. 

“Our crowdfunding campaign was a great success. But we did show quite a lot of the functionalities of our keyboards. That made it difficult to protect our product with a patent. Crowdfunding provides capital investment for hardware development and creates a bond with our customers in product development. But we now remain focused on what we reveal in advance!” Jeroen Langelaan, Engineer at Wooting

Tip 4: Make collaboration agreements on time

Many innovations arise in partnerships. But for investors, it is often desirable that your intellectual property is well defined or, even better, that your company is the sole owner of essential intellectual property. That is why this point deserves attention from the start of a collaboration. Before the partnership, record the background knowledge of the parties: this is the knowledge acquired in advance or outside of the partnership. This knowledge, therefore, does not count as knowledge that falls under joint development. 

Also, clear agreements should be made about the intellectual property of the knowledge acquired in the collaboration. This is the foreground knowledge: all knowledge and intellectual property built up in the context of the partnership. In addition to knowing who will be the owner, you determine who will access the foreground knowledge and what conditions apply.

Tip 5: Investigate whether you are infringing on the intellectual property of others

Freedom-to-operate (FTO) means that you can market your product or service without infringing on the intellectual property of others. Find out by having an FTO investigation carried out. The investigation is also fascinating for investors because they want to keep their risk as low as possible.

“An FTO not only shows investors that you are seriously considering your IP rights, it also gives them a risk analysis that makes them more inclined to invest in your innovation. Read all about it in my blog.”

Yp Kroon, Patent advisor

Take a workshop on intellectual property

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) frequently organises events, workshops, and webinars nationwide with various partners. View the agenda for an overview and register now (in Dutch).