To complement Enterprise Ireland’s RD&I programmes, the ‘Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy Offer’ is additional support to incentivise companies to develop an IP strategy, focused on capturing, managing and exploiting their R&D results to greater effect.
The focus on IP Strategy emphasises the importance of securing the full range of RD&I-related IP assets (including patents, designs, trade secrets, copyright, trademarks etc) and deploying them strategically for the benefit of the business. The development of an effective IP strategy can assist companies in achieving their growth targets.
This offer seeks to assist companies to address common issues of (a) low IP awareness, (b) limited internal IP management capability and (c) the cost of obtaining external IP expertise. These capability and resource constraints are commonly reported by SMEs as key barriers to undertaking IP activity.
What is the IP Strategy Offer?
This offer comprises two separate grants: IP Start & IP Plus.
IP Start: Supports companies to obtain the necessary external expert IP advisory and support services to address immediate IP issues e.g. prior-art research in support of an RD&I Technical Feasibility study; IP Audit of existing R&D output; draft and file a patent etc.
IP Plus: Supports companies to obtain external expert IP advisory support services and to build the in-company IP capability which are necessary to implement a detailed IP Strategy.
The IP Strategy should be aligned with the company’s RD&I and business development strategies. Advisor(s) and IP Champion will work collaboratively to implement IP related activities and transfer IP knowledge to the company.