Business ServicesGuidance on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Guidance on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Startia's expert organisation Kolster Oy Ab offers free guidance on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for Vaasa Region Enterprise Agency Startia and VASEK's clients.


With what does the IPR guidance help?


Suppose the business idea is based on an innovation or an invention. In that case, Kolster can help you to find out whether there is an equivalent idea or product. They can determine if and how you can patent the idea or product or how to manufacture the product without infringing on someone else's rights.

Even a small business can protect its ideas. For example, a jewellery business owner may apply for trademark or pattern protection for their jewellery. In addition, printed matter, clothing, or even a design in a business space can be protected with rights such as patent, copyright, and trademark. Today, investors and business angels often demand that a company has intellectual property. Trademarks and patents are seen as valuable.

Kolster offers advice and a critical eye for the business idea and saves money. By searching databases, you can find out if someone is already making the same product, or if not quite the same, then what are the differences? Sometimes there can be a similar product, but the marketing has yet to succeed. Entrepreneurs should think about what they can do differently — that's when you reach results.

The entrepreneur must pay the costs after the free pre-processing and any patent or protection applications. It is also important to consider whether there will be more profit from exclusive rights of the idea than without it. Or is there some other benefit to exclusivity? Would it drive away any competing companies from the field, for example?

Until IPR matters are in order, the entrepreneur should not start promoting their idea or telling anyone outside about it (except those with a confidentiality obligation, such as corporate advisers). Telling other parties about the idea may hinder the possibility of protecting the rights.