Intellectual Property Services

NHSIL has a sophisticated evaluation process to ensure the best ideas become a reality. We have the time, funding and expertise to bring your idea to life. An essential part of this process is the Intellectual Property Services we provide to our Member Trusts.

As part of our evaluation process, we perform extensive searches around the innovation to see the status of the current technology and how the innovation differs. We will perform analysis of the innovation to see whether it would be possible to protect it with Intellectual Property Rights.  Registered intellectual property protection will only be sought if the route to patient benefit is best met through commercialisation.

If a decision is taken to seek registered IP protection, our team of Intellectual Property Managers will work closely with the innovator to draft and file a patent or design application.  We also work with external Patent and Trademark attorneys whom we instruct on behalf of the Trusts.  When IPR applications are filed, it is helpful to keep in contact with the innovators in order to deal with any objections to the applications.

During our evaluation, our team will also have to ascertain who owns the IP. Providing information to us about who employs everyone involved in making the innovation will help our evaluation.   

Another aspect our team has to consider is whether the innovation would be stopped from coming to market by an Intellectual Property Right belonging to someone else. We may feel it is necessary to perform a "Freedom to Operate" search to ascertain whether there is blocking IPR in the area of the innovation.

Our team, therefore, considers all aspects of intellectual property surrounding an innovation to enable us to establish whether it is commercially valuable.

To speak directly to a member of the team call 0207 025 0900.