Fairoaks IP?

Fairoaks IP was founded in February 2009 with the mission of helping technologically innovative companies large and small to understand, manage and exploit their ideas. It is the fulfillment of an ambition that its creator Mike Barlow has had for many years to provide decision makers with uncomplicated, pragmatic and business focused advice on dealing with their IP.

Over a career spanning 30 years with BP Mike has dealt with businesses of all shapes and sizes and has learnt that successful IP management requires a strategic multidisciplinary approach which balances legal, technology and business priorities and sits at the heart of a company's thinking.

It is this multidisciplinary approach that we aim to bring to any relationship we have with you and we believe that it is this which stands us apart from others offering similar services. Put simply we provide pragmatic and realistic IP solutions to practical business problems.

So ask yourself the question following questions:

  • Is IP critical to the success of my business?
  • Is IP something I don't really understand and as a consequence gets dealt with on an ad hoc basis?

If the answer to both these questions is 'yes' then the chances are you need to consult us!

The Services We Provide

Our extensive experience in the field of IP enable us to provide most if not all of the IP management services you or your company is likely to need as you grow including:

  • Advising you on what you need to understand and do at the outset to protect your IP.
  • Raising your company's awareness of the importance of IP through educational events targeted to the specific needs of your employees.
  • Assessing the status of your IP assets revealing whether they are fully visible to you or your organization and whether they are being actively managed for success.
  • Advising you on how to develop a successful business-led IP strategy and how to deliver it through fit-for-purpose IP portfolio management activities.
  • How to identify patentable inventions and how to go about procuring patents before the major Patent Offices worldwide.
  • How to manage the risk to your business posed by the IPR of your competitors.
  • How to recognise and exploit business opportunities arising out of your IP.
  • How to collaborate effectively with others in developing technology or new business opportunities so that your business interests are protected.
  • Deciding as an investor whether you should invest in a new high-tech business.
  • How to go about valuing and licensing your IP.
  • Choosing the right IP advisor to help you.

And of course if you have other specific IP needs do ask us.

About IP?

The ideas you have are sometimes referred to as your 'intellectual property' or IP for short. All of us have ideas from time to time and they range from those which are frankly trivial or already well-known to those which are genuinely new and capable of being transformed into exciting new business opportunities. Your IP may therefore have the potential to be very valuable business asset if treated properly.

The downside of IP compared to owning a physical asset such as your house or a car is that it is somewhat ephemeral because at least in theory someone else can come up with exactly the same idea quite independently. And of course if you go around telling people about what you are doing your ideas quickly become available to everyone else and you may lose out to someone who is better placed to move forward quickly.

So if you are not to lose out you have to be very careful how you manage your IP from the outset. One way to do this is to keep your ideas completely to yourself but obviously such a strategy may not get you very far if you need to raise finance or work with others to get a new business off the ground. Another approach is to obtain Intellectual Property Rights (typically a patent, trademark registered design or a copyright) which can be used to protect your IP by creating a legal right which you can enforce in a Court. However this can be very expensive and your needs and the amount of money you have available will very likely change as your business grows.

So you can see that to be successful you need to approach the management of your IP strategically and in a way which remains aligned with your business aspirations. This is where we come in...

What Is A Patent?