Freedom to Operate is more than just a precautionary step; it's a strategic necessity for businesses seeking to innovate and operate in a competitive landscape. Acorn's FTO services provide you with a clear picture of potential obstacles, allowing you to make informed decisions that minimise the risk of infringement and maximise your freedom to operate with confidence.

FTO is often a significant consideration for investors and partners. When interested parties are considering whether to provide financial backing, a major consideration is often whether there is a risk that a third party could shut the whole operation down. Our FTO services can help you provide confidence to those potential investors.

It is normally a good idea to consider an FTO project before a product launch. Once a product reaches a suitable level of maturity that you are confident it won’t change significantly, it is often advisable to ‘clear the way’ for the launch by checking for any relevant third-party rights and determining what to do about them.

In some cases it is worth considering FTO even before that point in time. For example, if significant resources are to be allocated to a particular area of R&D, it may be worth checking that there are no patents held by third parties that may be problematic.

If problematic third party patents are identified, Acorn IP can advise you on a suitable strategy for dealing with any possible issues.

IP Rights Review

Our team conducts a meticulous review of intellectual property rights held by third parties, including your competitors. Depending on your needs, we can either look at a specific list of IP rights (such as patents) that you are concerned about, or we can commission a search to identify any IP rights that may be of concern.

We take time to develop a deep understanding of your products and services and use that alongside our expertise to review any identified IP rights and determine whether there is a risk of them being used against you.

Risk Assessment and Advice

Acorn provides you with a detailed analysis of the identified IP rights, assessing the level of risk they may pose to your activities. We offer strategic advice on how to navigate the landscape in which you are operating, considering potential modifications or adjustments to your plans to mitigate infringement risks.

Design Around Service

In addition to the traditional FTO review, our Design Around service takes a proactive approach, blending legal insights with creative thinking to inform design decisions. We collaborate with you and your R&D team to feed into the design process to reduce the risk of infringement. By strategically guiding your design process, we help you steer clear of potential IP conflicts, ensuring your innovation stays on the right side of the law.

In some cases, we can supplement this by advising on ways to improve your access to market, either by challenging blocking IP rights or helping you secure the right to use third-party IP.

Competitor Watches

If you need to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, we can set up a watch service to continually monitor the IP registers for their activity. We can provide you with a report on any changes such as new patent filings, grants, refusals, or abandonments to keep you informed.

Continuous Support

Our commitment doesn't end with the initial assessment. We remain a trusted partner, offering ongoing support as your business evolves.