Software

Almost everything we use today, from mobile phones and TVs to online banking and interacting with our service providers, involves the application of software. Developers need to consider obtaining patents to protect their software innovations as relying on trade secret and copyright protection can have serious limitations.

Our experience working with clients in the software industry over many years has provided us with the necessary expertise to handle the challenges posed by patent offices throughout the world in protecting software and AI innovation.

Over time, we build close relationships with the software developers we work with, and our flexible working approach means that we are always available for guidance, advice and support regarding your intellectual property. Our clients say that we are ‘responsive, approachable, commercially orientated and great to work with’. Click here for specific guidance on intellectual property for AI, machine learning and data innovation.

We work with companies and their directors who are seeking to build shareholder value via their intellectual property portfolio, often with a view to seeking VC funding, sale or listing on a stock exchange.

We can help you capture innovation from coders, data scientists, mathematicians and the like. Barriers to innovation capture can include misapprehensions about the patentability of software and invention capture processes that place an excessive burden on tech people to write up their ideas. An effective innovation capture strategy for a software company can therefore be driven by regular capture/training workshops and management meetings, with meetings or calls with the relevant technical people to capture the information we need to prepare patent applications – without requiring your technical team to prepare any written material for the purpose of securing patent protection.

We understand the role of scientific publications and open source and advise on potential conflicts of interest.

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Our experience with software and AI developers

We work across all fields in software and artificial intelligence, including:

audio and video coding;
embedded control processes;
data mining, encryption and security;
gaming and virtual reality;
machine learning models and applications (including neural networks, Bayesian models, reinforcement learning);
medi-tech and fin-tech;
robotics and autonomous vehicles;
security authentication;
signal processing; and
user interfaces.

Our recent work with software and AI developers includes:

supporting Skype in developing a portfolio of more than 200 families of patent applications over five years, and with intellectual property due diligence when the company was acquired by Microsoft;
securing patent protection in Europe for Kopin Solos Smart Glasses, which incorporate GPS and performance data and have been worn by professional cyclists in the United States Cycling and the Olympic track cycling team;
consulting for the intellectual property director at the European Commission on the debate over copyright versus patents for software cases;
crystallising the value of a data mining company’s IP by construction of a portfolio of patents in advance of acquisition by a US media monitoring company;
successfully obtained a number of patents in the US for gaming-related apps on behalf of a leading international gaming company;
helping a new fin-tech start-up understand the patent process and file their first patent application in order to support raising of funding from investors;
drafting various patent applications for high-tech AI companies including an autonomous vehicle start-up;
conducting a training and workshop session for a start-up building AI products in the creative industries;
providing advice in the context of an ownership dispute relating to an international patent portfolio relating to gaming technology;
helping a fast-growing AI start-up to develop an ongoing IP capture strategy and innovation rating system;
drafting a medium-sized portfolio of patent applications for a leading UK data analytics company that was acquired soon after;
drafting applications for a portfolio of over 40 patents and applications for a UK tech start-up who recently hit over 1 million app downloads;
drafting a number of optics and manufacturing patent applications for a well-known augmented reality headset; and
conducting an analysis of a competitor's portfolio in the context of a potential acquisition for a UK software company.