Subsidised IP Audits- what are they and how do you get them?

UPDATE - DECEMBER 2015

As part of the November 2015 Spending Review settlement, the government has decided to wind down the national delivery of the Business Growth Service.

It is not year clear how this will affect IP Audits.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) yesterday issued a formal instruction to providers of the Business Growth Service:

not to enter into any further contractual commitments with customers after 23:59 Monday 30 November;

that all contractual commitments should be honoured, as long as all support and related activity is completed by 31 March 2016.

In a nutshell

The UK government offers heavily subsidised IP audits for qualifying companies. You basically pay £400 for a highly detailed £3000 audit (the Intellectual Property Office - or IPO - picks up the rest of the bill) which will enable your business to put together an IP strategy. In the words of the UK Government, the idea is to provide:

“...support in respect of IP management, commercialisation and marketing, to ensure that [businesses] can deploy their IP assets into their wider business strategy, and maximise their value”
IP Audits Plus Application Pack.png

Who's it for?

Firstly, the audits are only available through the Business Growth Service- and specifically you must be a client of GrowthAccelerator (part of the BGS). The BGS can be contacted via their website- or Vault IP would be happy to introduce clients to BGS.

Companies must be based in England, have fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £40m. Ask your Business Growth Manager about IP audits- they will assist with the application to the IPO.

Who carries out the audit?

We can do that! The audit will contain a detailed analysis of your company's IP position, as well as recommendations with clear and transparent cost projections. Your Growth Manager will then help you to implement those recommendations.

What does the audit cover?

  • Patents

  • Trade Marks

  • Designs 

  • Copyright 

  • Third party Searching 

  • IP Management (including contracts with your businesses' stakeholders)

  • Recommendations

Is it any good?

As a result of their participation in the IP audit programme

  • 87% of businesses have sufficient knowledge to identify IP within their business;

  • 82% of businesses are more aware of the value of IP;

  • And 76% of businesses say IP is a priority for their business.

What next?

Get in touch! Call us on 01926 203055 or email hello@vault-ip.com.

designs, patents, trade marks, copyrightGuest User