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Businesses often talk of “owning technology”. But what does that mean?

Well, if the answer doesn’t also involve “patents”, then the truth is not much.

Patents matter. And owning patents is as close as you can come to owning technology.

Done right they will protect your product sales by creating an impenetrable barrier to entry for your competitors.

Patents can generate revenue on their own through significant licence fees, and support tax relief through regimes like the UK patent box.

Patents can empower your innovation workforce, and can give your business unparalleled leverage, in either a transactional or dispute context.

But as powerful as they are, they can be costly to your business. Third party patents can materially affect your operations, and can, in extreme circumstances, force you to stop commercial activity.

So if you are involved in technology in any way, then you need to know how patents might help – and hinder – your business.

At Wiggin we have an international team of patent lawyers who are specialist in both contentious and non-contentious matters.

We can advise you on strategic matters and can help you manage “patent prosecution” in conjunction with patent attorneys – so that you get the rights that matter to your business.

We can help you structure transactions so that you maximise the value of your patent assets. And if the need arises, our specialist patent litigators can advise you on how best to navigate what is likely to be one of the most significant disputes that your business gets involved in.

We have considerable and wide-ranging expertise in acting for both claimants and defendants in patent litigation in the English and Belgian courts, and in relation to parallel disputes in other jurisdictions, where we have strong working relationships with leading patent practitioners.

Of course, we recognise that clients often do not want litigation and its associated costs. But we also recognise that if technology is core to your business, you may have little choice but to defend your patch.