IP Support for Startups
Overview
IP support for startups – from first filing to exit
Building a startup and wondering what – if anything – you should protect? We help founders turn technology into real company assets: patents, trademarks, designs and trade secrets that support your funding round, lift your valuation and make you harder to copy. We are a patent and trademark law firm, but we look at IP the way investors and founders do, not just as lawyers: protection should serve concrete business goals rather than being an expensive piece of paper.
Our reach covers the Polish Patent Office (UPRP), the European Patent Office (EPO), the PCT route, the USPTO (through partner firms), and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for trademarks and designs – everywhere a startup with global ambitions scales.
Why does a startup need IP protection?
IP is rarely the reason an investor says “yes” – but its absence can be the reason they say “no”. The data is clear: according to a 2023 EPO and EUIPO study, European startups holding both patents and trademarks at the seed/early-growth stage were up to about 10 times more likely to secure funding, and their median seed round was over EUR 900,000, compared with around EUR 260,000 for startups without IP. The chance of a successful exit (IPO or acquisition) was more than three times higher with both rights in place.
IP protection serves concrete goals: it builds a moat and sends a signal to investors during a round, raises company value at exit, limits copying, and sometimes opens up licensing revenue. We help you pick one or two priority goals and fit the strategy to them – rather than filing for everything you can.
Interested in working with us? Get in touch.
The most common mistake: disclosing before filing
This is the trap that costs founders their European patents – and in Poland it is especially treacherous. In Europe (EPO) and in Poland (UPRP) there is no grace period: any public disclosure of the invention before the filing date – a showcase, a sale, a demo, a conference, a publication, even a soft launch without an NDA – destroys novelty and closes the door to a patent (Articles 54 and 55 EPC, Articles 25 and 26 of the Polish Industrial Property Law).
The key catch: launching in Poland counts as disclosure in the EU. If you’re planning a European patent but first show the product on the Polish market, you can lose protection before you even start. The rule is simple: file first, launch later. We help you get this sequence right and plan it so it doesn’t slow down your market entry (the US has a 12-month grace period, so there is sometimes a way in for the American market – but not for Europe).
What to protect and when? A strategy matched to your stage
Not everything needs – or deserves – a patent, and at an early stage a patent is often not the first tool to reach for. At seed stage, the most value usually comes from a “light” IP portfolio that builds itself as you work: trade secrets (processes, know-how), copyright (code, content), your brand, and provisional applications where the date matters. Patents and a full portfolio usually come at the growth stage, once the solution is validated.
We match protection to your business model: what to patent, what to keep as a trade secret (say, an algorithm running on a server, where a competitor’s use would be undetectable), and what to secure with contracts and a trademark. And we stick to one rule: IP should support your path to product-market fit, not consume your team and budget in the early days.
Contact
Let's talk about protecting your brand
Tell us where you want to protect your name or logo. We'll prepare an action plan and a quote.
Global from day one
A Polish startup usually has to be global from the start – and the same goes for its IP. Instead of filing for the sake of it, we plan your portfolio around the markets where you actually want to operate and the profile of a potential acquirer. We use the priority year (Paris Convention) and the PCT route to buy time for country decisions, and we match jurisdictions (EPO, USPTO, others) to your commercialization strategy. That way the budget goes where it builds value – not into maintaining rights in countries that add nothing.
Services for startups
We support founders at every stage:
- patentability assessment and an initial review of your idea (whether protection is worth pursuing at all and what can realistically be protected),
- patent applications: UPRP, EPO, PCT, US (through partner firms),
- trademarks and industrial designs (EUIPO, UPRP, WIPO),
- freedom-to-operate (FTO) searches and infringement risk analysis,
- IP audits and cleaning up the chain of title: rights-transfer agreements with founders, employees and contractors, IP clauses, university matters (spin-offs),
- portfolio strategy and preparing the company for a funding round and investor due diligence.
How we work
We treat your business like our own. Before we file anything, we ask what the right is supposed to achieve – and we advise against filings that have no business case. We speak the language of both the patent office and the investor, so we can explain the same IP to the attorney on the other side and to a VC in the data room. What we care about is a long-term relationship, not the filing count – because your next stage is our success too.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Not always. A patent makes sense when it serves a specific goal: building a competitive edge, impressing investors, or raising company value at a sale. In some industries (biotech, deep tech, hardware) it's almost a must, while in purely digital businesses it can matter less at the start. Sometimes a trade secret or fast market entry works better. We start by asking "what is this protection supposed to achieve?" and pick the tools to fit.
In Europe you usually need to act early, because what counts is the filing date, not the date of invention (the first-to-file rule). More importantly, Europe has no US-style grace period: if you disclose your solution publicly before filing, you lose the right to a patent. That's why you file (e.g. a priority application) before showing the product to the world. At the same time, filing a half-baked idea isn't worth it either – we help you find the right moment.
Investors – yes, but under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA); a confidential conversation does not destroy novelty. Public disclosure (a conference, a demo, a publication, online posts, a sale) before filing closes the door to a patent in Europe – irreversibly. This also applies to a "quiet" launch and customer demos without an NDA. The safe rule: file first, communicate later.
It isn't one fee but a sum: drafting the application, official fees, prosecution, and later renewal fees. The cheapest option is a Polish national filing (approx. EUR 1,000–5,000 including attorney fees); a European patent costs more, especially with validation in multiple countries (realistically EUR 10,000–20,000 over the whole cycle). The PCT route lets you spread costs and decisions over time. We prepare a specific quote for each case.
They protect different things. A patent covers a technical solution (how something works), a trademark covers your name and logo (the brand), copyright covers code and content among other things (and arises automatically), and a trade secret covers confidential know-how you don't disclose. In practice, a good strategy combines several of them at once. We help you pick the mix that actually builds your competitive edge.
Start with the protection that largely builds itself and doesn't require big fees: trade secrets (confidentiality, access control), copyright in your code, your brand, and clean rights-transfer agreements. You can secure a priority date with a cheaper filing and leave full patent applications for the growth stage, once the product is validated. Most importantly: don't let IP consume your team before you find product-market fit.
Yes – in a great many cases software can be patented. In Europe what counts is the technical effect: if the software solves a technical problem (e.g. system performance, control, signal processing, cybersecurity, image or sound recognition, improvements to how you interact with a computer or smartphone), it stands a chance of a patent. A business idea alone is not enough. We assess every solution individually – you'll find more on our software patenting page.
If you're planning foreign markets or an exit, Poland alone won't be enough – a patent works only where it has been granted. A Polish or European filing gives you a priority year to extend protection to other countries, and the PCT route lets you postpone the decision by up to about 30 months. We point protection at the markets where you really want to operate and where your potential acquirers are. The most advantageous combination is the full EP + US package.
This is the first thing investors check. Rights to a program written by an employee usually pass to the company by operation of law, but with freelancers and contractors (B2B agreements) they don't: you need a written rights-transfer agreement. Without it, the company may not own its own technology. We help you put these agreements in order before they become a due diligence problem.
It works in two ways: as a real advantage (you're harder to copy) and as a signal that you know what you're doing. A 2023 EPO and EUIPO study showed that European startups with patents and trademarks were up to several times more likely to raise funding, and their median seed round was clearly higher. Clean IP also shortens due diligence and takes risk off the investor. We help you prepare the company and the documentation for your round.