Before the invention; you invent & innovate

Innovation is one of the cornerstones of economic policy in Europe and innovation is stimulated in many different ways. Arnold + Siedsma advises businesses even before the actual invention is created.

It is advisable to involve Arnold + Siedsma in your company’s technical development process. This will allow our specialists to identify potential inventions at an early stage. In any event, thanks to our experience, we can often recognise an invention before you can. By identifying and possibly investigating all potential inventions at an early stage, you can control your technical development process more effectively. Furthermore, it is then easier to choose the best time to file your patent application.

The foundations for a successful innovation policy can be laid precisely in the preliminary phase. The following aspects can be considered:

Setting up research

The people at Arnold + Siedsma can help you devise a tailored innovation strategy with clear value added.

Research & Development is becoming increasingly important for many companies. It is important that a department of this type is not isolated from other business activities, but rather forms part of them. In some cases, it is beneficial to gear the company's remuneration policy towards R&D. Incentives or payments for innovation can be incorporated into the contract of employment. In some counties, this is even mandatory.

The relevant employees are not always aware of the importance of protecting intellectual property in general and inventions/patents in particular. It is also often unclear what can and cannot be protected, so protectable ideas and developments are not always identified in a timely manner.

To introduce a more successful innovation policy, Arnold + Siedsma can devise a course for your R&D department. This will help you identify inventions more easily, and avoid the subsequent realisation that the invention can no longer be protected. A course of this type will also increase awareness among your employees.

If innovations are recognised more quickly, it may be useful to set up an internal notification procedure for innovations. Arnold + Siedsma can help you set up the notification procedure and evaluate the notified innovations.

It may be extremely useful in the long term to closely monitor the developments of a company. An effective administration or library of the technology employed will enable you to invalidate patents of third parties. This will arm you against a potential patent from a different company for your own invention/product/service.

Subsidies

The development of new products and/or services costs money. A subsidy may help to ease the burden. Many subsidies are available. Thanks to its strong local roots, Arnold + Siedsma can help you to locate the appropriate source.

Tax subsidies are also available, such as the innovation box which applies in the Netherlands. All measures must be taken in order to allow the innovation box to be used before the actual invention(s) is/are created.

Research - and third parties

The policy and structure of R&D activities can be adapted just before an invention is created. Legal advice can be given on the creation of your portfolio and the ownership structures of your innovations, but also on collaboration between parties working together on the innovation.

Arnold + Siedsma can provide answers to key questions on the subject of working with freelance consultants and contractors. Arnold + Siedsma ensures that employees’ inventions become the property of your company. It is important to consider confidentiality agreements, which allow a preliminary phase of an innovation to be discussed with potential partners even before the invention is protected with a patent, trademark or design.

Examination - orientation

To make an investment in innovation appear more appropriate, it may be useful to examine areas in which few inventions have so far been created. This will ultimately enable you to obtain substantial protection. This preliminary examination is known as landscaping.

Patent applications provide important information on the activities of your competitors and on new developments in your own market. Arnold + Siedsma can set up monitoring to allow you to track developments in a market. Monitoring involves following developments by name or subject-matter in the international patent registers and databases.

Patent monitoring can be crucially important in the case of “cutting-edge technologies” and in cases where it is important to take note of the intellectual property rights of a specific competitor or a number of competitors. A close watch can also be kept on the state of the art in a specific research area and/or in a sector of industry.