From identifying and managing our clients’ valuable IP assets, to clearing, protecting and enforcing those intellectual property assets, we provide end-to-end IP support and commercialisation guidance in all industry sectors.

Identify

We help clients properly identify IP assets and rightful ownership in a number of ways depending on the commercial intent, including:

• IP audit reports
• IP due diligence reviews
• Application pre-filing advice
• Trade mark availability and infringement clearance searches
• IP assignment agreements
• IP licencing agreements
• IP ownership advice
• IP subsistence advice

Clear

Investing in a professional trade mark clearance search allows you to build positive brand equity into your trademark with the confidence you are not infringing on the legitimate rights of a third party brand owner. This is especially important before launching:

• A new brand domestically and overseas
• An existing brand overseas
• A variation of an existing brand (e.g. line extensions)
• Extending an existing brand into new product categories (i.e. brand extensions)

We help clients with this critical step by:

• Understanding its brand strategy and target market to develop an effective and comprehensive trade mark clearance search strategy.
• Applying over a decade of intensive trade mark clearance experience and legal judgment to assess and rate the infringement risk levels.
• Providing clear guidance in a concise search report to help clients confidently decide on the path forward.

Protect

At home and abroad, intellectual property is most valuable and beneficial when it is protected. Clients expanding into overseas markets benefit from our strong working knowledge of key foreign trade mark jurisdictions. Where an overseas firm needs to be engaged, we work closely with our tightly-curated network of trusted foreign IP law firms.

We provide clients with specialist expertise on IP protection in the following areas:

• Trade marks
• Copyright
• Designs
• Patents*
• Trade secrets / confidential information protection

_{*For patent matters, we work closely with highly-experienced registered patent attorneys chosen on the basis of the invention’s specific area of technology (e.g. biotechnology, organic/inorganic chemistry, aerospace, optics/photonics, mechanical engineering, materials science, cosmeceutical, pharmaceutical etc.). This ensures that every technical nuance of your invention is properly understood and strategically protected where possible.}

Commercialise

Intangible assets like brands and inventions provide tangible commercial value, if commercialised intelligently. With years of cutting-edge experience in advising clients from vastly different sectors, we have the depth and breadth of know-how to help you leverage your intellectual property.

We assist clients with commercialising its valuable IP in a number of ways, including:

• Trade mark licencing (negotiating/structuring/drafting)
• Technology/patent licencing (negotiating/structuring/drafting)
• Inter-company IP licencing
• Research and development (R&D) agreements
• Purchase or sale agreements involving intellectual property assets
• IP assignment advice and agreements
• Export marketing development grants (EMDGs) and R&D tax incentive grant applications*

_{* We work with boutique tax lawyers with extensive expertise in helping IP-driven businesses successfully apply for governmental grants.}

Manage

Intellectual property assets require active maintenance to (a) derive the most out of it, and (b) avoid potential loss of rights from misuse or neglect. We provide best-practices IP portfolio management backed by extensive in-house corporate experience to enable your business to use and maintain its IP properly and effectively.

Our client-focused IP management services include:

• Centralised IP portfolio recordkeeping (“docketing”) and active deadline monitoring
• Preparing bespoke IP usage policy guidelines for client employees and contractors
• Conducting IP best-practices training sessions for clients’ corporate in-house lawyers and marketing teams
• IP watching services to monitor applications by competitors (for intelligence gathering) or other businesses (for monitoring deceptively similar trade marks).
• IP portfolio review sessions to assess weaknesses, threats and opportunities

Enforce

Your intellectual property rights are only worth protecting if you’re prepared to enforce it. In addition to expertly and confidently guiding clients through the complexities of specific enforcement actions (such as infringement litigation), we are also strong proponents of having well-considered enforcement strategies in place before infringements arise.

We help clients enforce their valuable intellectual property rights (both locally and abroad) in a number of ways, including:

• Infringement cease-and-desist letters
• Registry opposition and removal proceedings
• Court infringement actions
• Counterfeit shipment seizures resulting from Customs Notices
• Social media takedown requests
• Domain name dispute resolution procedures (UDRP)