A goal without a plan is just a wish.
For startups
Be attractive to investors through patents.
Secure financing for a successful start with a patent strategy.
A startup needs innovative ideas, committed founders and competent partners. But ultimately, all things fail without the necessary capital. Many startups have to experience again and again how difficult it is to win an investor for a “yes”.
Patents often secure an edge over competitors in the race for fresh capital: they make a startup attractive to financiers and convince them to invest in a venture.
A patent can block rival companies from using the patented technology illegally and thus provide protection from the competition.
This also holds true if a startup changes its business model after the initial period - which happens in about 70 percent of startups, according to recent studies. Patents have the great advantage of being granted independently of a specific business model and can thus be adapted to new ones.
As a general rule, the monetary benefit for new companies is also substantial: many startups want to sell their business model at a profit after some time, and patents can significantly increase the value of a startup in this context.
Being able to feel and think like both customers and competitors when drafting patent applications is an important prerequisite for a good patent.
What are the advantages of the product, what are the weaknesses that a competitor could exploit, and what is special about the product or service?
The answers can lead to a good patent that offers protection against both 1:1 copies and modified variants by competitors.
The process until a patent is finally granted often takes years. However, this fact offers some advantages for a startup: First, costs are spread over a prolonged period of time and not incurred all at once. Secondly, strategic decisions, which need to be taken by the young company within such a process, can only be assessed correctly with growing market experience. This prolonged time can be used to further acquire said knowledge and take the right steps.
This includes, for example, in which countries the patent should be applied for. Together with patent attorneys, a patent strategy and a roadmap for the patenting process should be developed - both of which also act as decisive assets in negotiations with investors.
Patents are an essential advantage to increase your company value in the eyes of an investor. Beyond that, however, there are a number of other criteria that investors examine and which are decisive for a Go or NoGo.
We connect startups and investors and provide the "Integrate IP Risk Summary", a tool to quickly and clearly evaluate the opportunities and risks of a startup.
