Question
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are a group of IT Professionals based in Nottingham. We are developing products and mobile apps in the HTech/Private Health Monitoring sector. We would like to facilitate the final stages of development and the market launch of a new product with a crowdfunding service.
We have received some advice from other entrepreneurs that crowdfunding is often advised against due to Intellectual Property concerns. How do we effectively protect our IP before and during a crowdfunding campaign? What exactly could be the problem!
Thank you very much for your advice.
Sincerely,
A. Hampton
Answers: 2 public & 0 private
One important issue that you need to be aware of is that most, if not all, crowd-based funding require disclosure of your technology in order to secure the funding.
This disclosure may preclude you from obtaining patent protection for your technology in some countries around the world. However, there are countries (such as Australia) that provide a grace period to allow you to file a patent application after you disclose your technology . As such, if you decided to go down the path of patent protection, it may be prudent to file a patent application before promoting your technology via crowd-based funding. This just provides you maximum flexibility in deciding which countries you want patent protection in.
Regards
Jing
Recent questions
I am looking for ...
3 6115 2