Bizstartup.ie - Start Up Kit

Coming up with a sound business idea is going to be your first step on the road to going it alone, but the next thing you will need to do is figure out what elements of it you can get protection for. “You need to ask yourself, ‘what’s to stop someone else doing the same thing as me?’” says David Brophy, partner in FR Kelly.

“The strongest and usually best type of intellectual property (IP) protection is a patent if you have a technical invention – it doesn’t have to be high tech, it can be modest and simply a clever way of solving a problem,” he explains.

“It has to be new and you can’t have disclosed it to anyone, except to people you trust and in that case, in confidence. Once you put an article in the paper or do a trial of a product your chances of getting a patent are shot down. It can be a chicken and egg scenario, as people aren’t sure whether to pursue an idea without researching potential customers – you could explore the market for the general type of product you have, without telling people exactly what your idea is.”

Cost of patents

The cost of a patent covering Europe and the US can be between €30,000 and €50,000 over a three- to five-year period, however this is structured so you don’t have to pay a large amount up-front, says Brophy. “The more high tech your idea, the more the patent will cost, but the average cost in the first year is €2,000 to €6,000.”

Registering your ideas

Most businesses starting up register a trademark of their brand or logo. The important thing here is to pick something distinctive, he says.

“The temptation is to go for a descriptive name, but this won’t give you good protection. Also, it’s important to note that registering your business name with the Companies Registration Office does not protect you against someone registering a similar name – there could be one or two letters in the difference or it may be spelt differently but sound the same – so you do need a trademark to ensure protection.”

A registered design is an option to consider if your idea is not sufficiently technically different, but looks different to other products, says Brophy. “You can register the appearance of something such as the packaging of your product. This process is much more straightforward than patents, involving only an upfront cost of around €1,500.”