We recommended them to apply for an innovation voucher, since it would be a perfect way to finance a patentability analysis. The client applied for an innovation voucher from Tekes (now Business Finland) utilizing their convenient online service.

In order to find out if the invention was patentable, we conducted a technology search – the innovation voucher covered all costs for the analysis. As a result, we found out that an alternative competing method already existed and therefore, filing a patent application would not be profitable. Due to the search, a better method for solving the same problem was found to be existing and, therefore, patenting the client’s method would not have be lucrative for their business, although the invention itself could have been novel and inventive. Since a patent would not have added value to the client, a patenting process would have led for them only to unnecessary costs, which were now avoided due to the high-quality preliminary analysis.

Tekes (now Business Finland) granted an innovation voucher for the internationalization project of the client, so that part of the voucher was to be used for trademark protection and part for communication services.

We considered at Boco IP, which protection strategy and services would be essential to the client’s brand. We mapped the conditions for registering the brand in the EU and in some other countries. Due to the search a trademark seemed to be registrable. Further, the client had a specific need to obtain an exclusive right for supporting their brand building, so we decided to apply for trademark protection in the EU. The registration process took four months and the brand was registered as a EU trademark. The innovation voucher covered in this case all costs related to the search and registration process of the trademark. Further, the client utilized the innovation voucher partly for communications consulting services from another service provider.