Patents

Freedom-to-operate (FTO) opinion

Before you bring your product to market it is essential to assess the existence of third party patents that might cover your product or intended use. Following an FTO search, we can subsequently assess the relevance of the patent rights found for your product and/or process.

Validity

When a third party patent stands in the way of marketing your current or your future product, you may want to assess the validity of such patent. The relevance of the publications you provide or publication found in the validity search can be assessed and reported. When it is decided to proceed with an opposition before the EPO, van den Berg IP is able to assist in these proceedings.

Landscape

Following a landscape search providing an overview of patent families relevant for a specific product or technology, our patent attorneys can support a further assessment of the results, be it providing an overview of the various technologies or maybe assist in brainstorm sessions and getting to design-around opportunities.

Patentability

Before drafting a patent application, it is advisable to check for relevant prior art and performing a patentability (or novelty) search. Our team can assess the known publications and draft and submit the subsequent patent application.

Advice

You may be faced with questions concerning intellectual property, for example in contracts or whether a third party patent is relevant for your activities or products. We can support you in answering such questions. We can also advice you on more general strategic issues.