Working with us is smooth and enjoyable, and we are flexible to accommodate your needs

Plan


First of all we meet with you to discuss the best options for protecting your IP. We will consider ownership and strategies such as trade secret protection or defensive applications.

Search


Once we understand the novelty of your idea, we will do some basic background reading to check for any obvious existing “prior art” that would impact your patent. We can also as an option carry out a formal prior art search.

Preliminary National Filing


If the search results are clear, we proceed to draft and file an application at the UK Intellectual Property Office. You are officially ‘patent pending’ from this point on. Congratulations! The UKIPO will carry out an initial search and we will analyse these results to validate the novelty of your invention before going forward.

International Filing


Provided the search results are clear, we will file an International Patent Application.  This application reserves patent rights in over 150 countries, with the effective filing date of the original preliminary national filing.

Analyse


An International Search Report will be established, and we will review the materials cited by the search examiner to assess their impact.

Strategic Review


To obtain patents in specific countries, the International Patent Application must be completed by making relevant national phase filings.  Ahead of this deadline, we will have a review where we will discuss the business case for filing in selected countries and provide guidance on the procedures and costs involved.

International Filings


The required national phase filings must generally be made within 30 months of the original preliminary application’s filing date.

Our Service


We always offer a free, no-obligation, first time consultation during which we can get to know you and provide some initial advice. We can do this in person, on the phone or using your favourite video conferencing service. Our offices are in the centre of Glasgow and we are always happy for you to pop in for a coffee. We also travel a lot and indeed find it very useful to see our clients’ own premises so if you prefer for us to come and visit you just ask! Meeting outside of normal office hours is also not a problem.

After our initial meeting, we will clarify what further information is needed to go ahead with any agreed actions.  Once we have that information we will issue a formal quotation for the work which is contemplated, and we then go ahead once you confirm your acceptance of the quotation.

We make a commitment to you to meet that budget and do not vary from it unless you ask us to do additional work that was not initially contemplated. If you do instruct such additional work, this will always be flagged up to you in advance and agreed upon before any additional expense is incurred.

Once the application is filed you are kept informed of progress in a prompt manner, and we commit to a “no surprises” billing policy.  Of course, establishing an IP portfolio can be expensive especially when extending protection to many countries. But we make every effort to make sure our clients are always aware of the next steps and the likely costs.  We don’t charge for routine phone calls or reviews, so you can always pick up the phone and catch up on the progress of your portfolio without needing to worry about getting a bill.

We are proactive about reminding you well in advance of subsequent deadlines regarding tasks that are due, so you are always informed.  This gives plenty of time to chat through things and make sure that the choices you make are aligned with your commercial objectives.

Throughout everything we always take time to listen to you, understand your business and make sure that your interests are being effectively looked after.

Contact us directly


Tel:
+44 (0) 141 255 0295

E-mail:
mail@scintilla-ip.com

Address:
Scintilla
The Centrum Building
38 Queen Street
Glasgow
G1 3DX
UK

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