Background
We have been BiSN’s patent attorneys since they were founded in 2010. BiSN is a major innovator in the oil and gas sector, developing specialist alloys at its UK laboratory and developing modified thermite heaters to reduce the heating time required for setting metal-to-metal seals using their alloys.
BiSN have gone from strength to strength over recent years and now operate manufacturing and testing facilities in both the UK and the US.
Challenge
To help our client identify and protect their innovations through the initial start-up phase, where their budget was restricted, and into the growth phase, where their budget increased along with the frequency of their innovations.
Action Taken
In the early years, when funding was tight, we drafted patent applications that related to multiple interrelated inventions, with the plan to file divisional applications once BiSN’s budget permitted. In this way we were able to ensure that none of our client’s initial innovations was lost through lack of funding during the initial start-up phase. This strategy has since borne fruit as their continued growth has enabled our client to pursue these initial innovations by way of multiple divisional applications.
In view of the global oil market, we utilised the PCT system to keep our client’s foreign filing options open for longer than the basic 12 month priority period. This strategy once again helped us to defer costs while BiSN continued to mature as a company.
As larger companies in the oil and gas sector began to take an interest in investing in BiSN, we provided the necessary assistance to answer the questions posed by these potential investors regarding our client’s patents as part of their due diligence.
Also, when a third party decided to challenge one of BiSN’s granted European patents, we represented them in Opposition proceedings held at the EPO and successfully argued for the patent to be maintained as granted.
Result
In the period since Forresters prepared and filed BiSN’s first UK patent application back in 2010, we have assisted our client with the filing of over 140 patent applications in more than a dozen countries.
To date, we have helped our client successfully obtain over 80 patents in the UK, US, Europe and even further afield. This patent success played a key role in BiSN securing major multi-million-pound investments from a range of established players in the global oil and gas sector.
BiSN were represented by Forresters attorney David Murphy.
