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The IP Portfolio of Startups

Savvy investors are often hesitant to provide funding to a startup until they have a clear understanding of the risks involved.   To discover the risks, investors usually conduct their own due diligence to identify and analyze information important to the viability of the startup.  Among the most important pieces of information is the startup's intellectual property portfolio.  A typical due diligence report will evaluate: 

  • the strength of any issued patents
  • the patentability of any unprotected inventions
  • the likelihood any filed applications will issue into a patent
  • if any customer confusion could exist in the relevant market
  • the strength of any trademark registrations
  • the possible effect of any protected designs in the relevant market
  • the strength of any copyright protected materials
  • the reverse engineering risks of any proprietary trade secrets
  • the strength and enforceability of all web domain registrations.

If you are involved with a startup, it is important to be proactive and lock down your company's intellectual property rights, even before you begin to court investors.  The attorneys at MacDonald Illig understand the issues faced by startups and can help you fully protect your IP portfolio, which will put you in a much better position to attract investment.

If you need help with your startup, or if you have additional questions, please contact our office at 814-870-7600 or complete this form on our website.