Life Sciences
Life Sciences and IP: Protecting Innovation, Maximising Value
Why Intellectual Property Is Critical for Life Science Companies
In the life sciences sector — whether you’re working in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, or diagnostics — innovation is your greatest asset. But turning a discovery into a viable product takes years of research, clinical trials, and significant investment. While development can take over a decade and cost billions, imitation can happen in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.
That’s why securing robust intellectual property protection is essential. Patents, trade secrets, regulatory exclusivities, and trade marks give you the legal tools to safeguard innovation, attract funding, and gain the market exclusivity needed to recover your investment. Without the right protection strategy, competitors can replicate your ideas before you see a return — putting your research, funding, and competitive edge at risk.
Stratagem helps life sciences companies protect their breakthrough ideas with IP strategies tailored to your science, your timeline, and your commercial goals. Whether you’re preparing for funding, scaling globally, or navigating regulatory approval, we help you build a strong foundation for long-term growth and value creation.
Stratagem’s Expertise in Life Sciences
Life science companies need more than technical advice — they need partners who understand the unique pressures of innovation, regulation, and commercialisation. Stratagem was founded with exactly that in mind. After serving as in-house counsel at a pharmaceutical company, Nicola Baker-Munton created Stratagem to deliver embedded, strategic IP support tailored specifically to the life sciences sectors.
Our team brings deep technical expertise across biology, chemistry, diagnostics, and medical devices, with many of our attorneys having worked inside pharmaceutical or biotech companies themselves. Whether you’re a startup biotech refining your IP strategy or a commercial-stage company navigating complex global filings, you benefit from advisors who speak your language — scientifically, commercially, and strategically.
You’re not just a client. You’re a collaborator. We work alongside life sciences companies at every stage — from spinouts and seed-funded ventures to scale-ups preparing for IPO, acquisition, or licensing. Our clients have included breakthrough innovators such as OMass, SpyBiotech, Heptares, and Blue Earth Diagnostics. What they have in common is a need for proactive IP guidance that evolves as they grow.
We’re with you for the long haul — not just for a patent filing here and there. We help you build an IP strategy that supports investor confidence, secures competitive advantage, and strengthens exit potential — whether that means licensing deals, strategic partnerships, or acquisition by a global pharmaceutical company. At Stratagem, your success is the measure of ours.
Let’s Tailor Your IP Advice to Your Business Type
Challenges in Life Sciences IP
Protecting Value and Managing Risk
In life sciences, your intellectual property is more than legal protection — it’s the core of your company’s value. Investors won’t back a business without a clear path to exclusivity. Acquirers look for watertight portfolios. And competitors, especially in pharma, are known to challenge or litigate as soon as success is visible. That’s why your IP strategy must be built for resilience. The right structure from the outset reduces the risk of disputes, increases confidence among stakeholders, and protects the long-term commercial value of your life sciences innovations.
Building the Right IP Strategy
A truly effective IP portfolio in life sciences isn’t just about filing patents. It’s about combining patents with regulatory exclusivities, trade secrets, and trade marks in a coordinated way that maximises protection across the full product lifecycle. Miss any one of these, and you risk exposing your innovation to competitors or undermining your commercial potential. Timing matters too — filing too early can reduce your exclusivity window, while waiting too long can leave your invention unprotected. And because development cycles can span a decade or more, a strong IP strategy needs regular review and adjustment to stay aligned with evolving science, partnerships, and commercial goals.
Collaboration: Opportunity & Risk
Collaboration is essential in life sciences — whether it’s through joint ventures, licensing deals, research partnerships, or CROs. But every collaboration introduces potential IP complications. Questions of ownership, confidentiality, royalties, and exit terms can easily become flashpoints if they’re not handled properly upfront. Ambiguous agreements can lead to expensive, time-consuming disputes just when your focus should be on progress. By putting robust legal structures in place early — and making sure they evolve with your partnerships — you can reduce risk, protect your assets, and ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the cost of clarity.
How We Work with Life Sciences Clients
We’re more than just life sciences IP attorneys — we act as a strategic extension of your team. From early-stage innovation through to clinical development, commercial launch, and beyond, we help you build an IP strategy that protects innovation, supports funding, and fuels business growth. Our life sciences expertise spans biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and medical devices — and we tailor our advice to your unique commercial goals.
Strategic IP planning – A forward-thinking IP strategy is essential to attract investors, support regulatory milestones, and prepare for exit. We work with you to define an IP roadmap that evolves with your science and scales with your business model.
Patent searches – Every strong patent starts with robust groundwork. Our prior art searches assess novelty and inventiveness, reduce risk, and strengthen the foundations of your patent application before you invest further time or resources.
Patent protection – We draft high-quality, defensible patent applications with a commercial lens. From choosing the right territories to scoping the claims, we help you protect your life sciences innovations effectively — and ensure your patents stand up to scrutiny.
Trade mark protection – Your brand deserves just as much protection as your technology. We run clearance searches, manage filings, and handle prosecution so you can secure enforceable trade mark rights that support product launches and brand expansion.
IP portfolio management – Investors want to see a well-maintained, strategically aligned IP portfolio. We proactively manage your life sciences patents and trade marks, making sure they stay current, aligned to business goals, and ready for due diligence at any stage.
Freedom to operate (FTO) searches – Before clinical trials or commercial launch, it’s vital to know where you stand. We assess the competitive IP landscape, identify third-party risks, and help you design around potential obstacles — so you can move forward with confidence.
Copyright and contentious matters – Whether it’s protecting digital content, research data, or brand assets, we advise on copyright strategy and represent your interests in IP disputes, helping you defend your position without derailing your business.
Due diligence and transactions – IP is central to any life science investment. We support licensing deals, acquisitions, and IPOs by ensuring your IP assets are clearly documented, strategically structured, and ready for investor scrutiny.
With Stratagem by your side, you’re not just protecting ideas — you’re building long-term commercial value. Every step of the way, we help you turn innovation into competitive advantage.
Proven Results
FAQs for Life Sciences IP Protection
Should I file a patent application or keep my invention secret?
Whether to patent your invention or keep it as a trade secret depends on the nature of your innovation and how you plan to commercialise it. If your invention can be reverse-engineered — meaning others could easily work out how it functions by analysing the product — then filing a patent is typically the safest route.
Patents are also advisable if infringement would be easy to detect, as they provide a solid legal foundation to act quickly and enforce your rights. Equally important is whether you plan to disclose the invention — whether to investors, collaborators, or at a conference. Public disclosure before filing a patent application can destroy your ability to secure protection, so timing is critical.
In contrast, keeping an invention as a trade secret may be more appropriate if it’s difficult to replicate and can be kept confidential within your organisation — such as a proprietary process. The best approach will depend on your commercial goals, the nature of your product, and how you intend to bring it to market. A tailored discussion with a patent attorney, experienced with life sciences, can help you make the right call and avoid common pitfalls.
I need to speak to an investor or potential collaborator. How do I protect my invention?
The type of NDA you use matters too. Whether you’re pitching to investors, negotiating a licensing deal, or entering into a research partnership, each scenario calls for a tailored agreement. A one-size-fits-all template may not provide sufficient protection. It’s essential to ensure that the NDA clearly defines what information is considered confidential, how long confidentiality obligations will last, and what the receiving party is permitted to do with the information.
Stratagem’s IP legal services can guide you through this process, helping you prepare NDAs that are fit for purpose and ensure your innovation stays protected — even in early-stage conversations.
Does having a patent mean I have the right to use my life sciences invention?
Not necessarily. Owning a patent gives you the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, or selling your invention without permission — but it doesn’t automatically give you the right to commercialise it yourself. That’s because other patents may exist that cover aspects of your product or process. Even if your invention is patented, it might still fall within the scope of an earlier patent owned by a third party, which could legally restrict your ability to bring it to market.
To avoid running into these obstacles, freedom to operate (FTO) searches are essential. These searches assess the patent landscape to identify whether any existing rights might pose a legal barrier to commercialisation. At Stratagem, we conduct detailed FTO analyses and help you develop strategies to work around, license, or challenge third-party patents where necessary — giving you a clear path forward and reducing the risk of costly infringement.
Protect Your Life Sciences Breakthrough — Book a Free IP Strategy Call
Whether you’re launching a breakthrough therapy, preparing for funding, or expanding into new markets, a robust IP strategy is essential. Schedule a free initial consultation with one of our life sciences expert attorneys to discuss how we can help protect your innovation, reduce risk, and support your long-term goals.
Call us on +44 (0)1223 550740 or complete the form to setup your free consultation.