Cooperation & IP: How to get away with innovation without giving away your know-how

Be honest: Many SMEs are world champions in “We're doing this somehow” and have therefore been successful on the market for years. But the days of getting through without fresh ideas are gone. Cooperation with startups or universities is a brilliant lever for innovation, especially for SMEs. But anyone who starts a cooperation without IP glasses risks ending up with applause but without their own intellectual property.

Collaborations: Turbo or Trap?

Startups bring speed, technology and the courage to experiment. As a medium-sized company, you have market knowledge, customer contact and the ability to really get things going. Together, this is pure innovation potential. But there is also a downside: With every workshop, every shared file, and every prototype, more people see your internal know-how. If it is not clear who owns what, it can happen that patents, software or brands suddenly shine more with the partner than in your own portfolio.

In short, collaborations are great as long as you don't outboat yourself.

My job: Raising awareness of IP protection

As a future designer with IP, what do I have to do? My job is

• Make it clear to you where you are currently playing Russian roulette with your know-how
• To put the right questions on the table before everyone falls in love with the joint project
• To ensure that you go to the lawyers with a crystal-clear briefing instead of a 'We would need a standard contract then. '

The following three questions show surprisingly quickly how well you are prepared for cooperation and which points you need to consider in more detail:

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1. What exactly do you want to gain from the cooperation: technology, new revenue, efficiency, visibility?
2. What is your 'silverware, 'so what should definitely not leave the house unchecked?
3. What points would get you up to sleep at night if they aren't watertight?

Celebrate opportunities — identify risks honestly

Collaborations are not a cuddly project, but about hard-hitting risks. Just to name a few:

• What happens if your partner suddenly goes his own way thanks to your know-how?
• How dependent do you make yourself when central technologies are only available at the start-up, which may no longer even exist in two years?
• How much does it hurt when a university proudly publishes and you realize that you would like to have filed the patent for it beforehand?

I'm a big fan of collaborations. But enthusiasm does not replace clarity or strategy.

The good news: With the right questions and clear “red lines,” most risks can be managed in such a way that you can sign with confidence — and not with stomach pain.

Ready to stop giving away your expertise?

If you have the feeling that “more would have been possible” in your previous collaborations — or if you are just about to embark on an exciting collaboration but don't have a good feeling about IP yet, we should talk.

I'll help you

• to sort your intellectual property
• Tighten your red lines
• And to set up your cooperation in such a way that it actually brings innovation, and not just nice photos for the press kit.

Write to me or make an appointment for an initial consultation. Then let's see together how you can boldly move forward with cooperation without giving away your trump cards.

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