Bwyd y Ddraig

Standard YouTube Licence

Jane Lambert

Over the last few days, the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc") has been featuring on LinkedIn members of the panel who will take part in the Den Y Dreigiau investment pitching event at the science park on 27 Nov 2025 between 18:00 and 21:00.  They are an impressive bunch of people, but also impressive is the chef who will provide her award winning food between 19:45 and 20:30.

That chef is none other than Gita Mistry, winner of Britain's Best Home Cook.  Gita is no stranger to M-SParc, having taken part in many of its events over the years. She has cooked at many great restaurants, including Philippe Gaertner's "Aux Armes de France" in Ammerschwihr (where she was featured on French television and the regional press), Vivek Singh's "Cinamon Club" and Atul Kochhar's "Banares" (the first Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star).  

She has received rave reviews from the food critics. Jay Rayner said she was Britain's best Indian cook while The Times described her food as "better than sex."

She has been commissioned to cook in Miami, Vienna, Gdansk, London and many other locations in this country and around the world. Folks who have worked with her and eaten her food include Stephen Fry, Michael Palin and the film producer, Steve Abbott.  She also writes and lectures on food at such venues as the British Library and is a regular attender at the Oxford Food Conference.  Gita's testimonial book, which will be on display at M-SParc, contains many famous names.  You can add yours if you are inspired to do so which I am sure she will appreciate.

Gita's contribution to the pitching event is particularly appropriate because she is an entrepreneur herself.  When still a schoolgirl, she set up an outside catering business under the brand name "Enjoy a Gita Mistry Curry in the Comfort of Your Home."   That is a brand that she still uses.   She has served as a Yorkshire Patron along with Archbishop Sentamu and the late test cricket umpire Dickie Bird. 

I first met Gita when she attended one of my Initial Advice and Signposting Clinics in Bradford, which is very similar to the one I hold in Gaerwen. She is well aware of the importance of intellectual property for brand protection, revenue generation and attracting investment.   If you are looking for investment, don't be surprised if you hear a very searching question from the kitchen on Thursday night.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article can call me during office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any other time.

Tips for Pitching to Business Angels

Guardian Angel by Bernhard Plockhorst

 

Jane Lambert

A business angel is an individual who provides capital to startups and other small and medium enterprises in return for shares or debentures. He or she may also offer advice, introductions to his or her connections and technical expertise. They are invaluable in that they are willing to take risks that would deter other investors.

The reason I am writing this article is that I recently attended a pitching event at which three business owners presented their investment proposals to a group of angel investors.  As the proceedings were confidential I can say nothing about the event other than that all the presenters were impressive and every proposition appeared to be viable.  

For those who are yet to make their first pitches as well as those who wish to learn more, I commend Stripe Inc.'s How to Pitch to Angel Investors. According to Wikipedia, Stripe, Inc. is a multinational financial services and software-as-a-service company with offices in Dublin and San Francisco.  The article was last updated on 3 July 2024 and while it was not addressed to British readers its guidance is relevant to entrepreneurs in this country.

One of the questions that angels are likely to ask is: “What are the main risks for your business, and how do you plan to mitigate them?” Stripe offers the following answer:

"Acknowledge the risks facing your business, whether they are market risks, operational risks, or competition. Discuss your strategies for mitigating these risks, showing that you have a realistic view of the challenges and a plan to address them."

That is not so very different from tthe simple five-point strategy for start-ups and other small businesses that I suggested in Business Planning and IP: A Practical Example 4 April 2018 in NIPC Inventors' Club:

1. "Identify the main revenue streams for your business over the business planning period. List the profitable products or services that you supply or for which your receive royalties or licence fees.
2. Consider the likely threats to those income streams. In most cases these are going to be commercial. Competitors will launch new products, reduce their prices or maybe consumer buying behaviour may change. Only in a minority of cases will you have reason to fear copying of your designs or technology or adoption of similar branding.
3. Devise appropriate counter measures. In many cases these will be commercial too even if you fear copying or passing off. In some circumstances, launching a new model, re-branding, reducing your prices or finding new markets can be as effective and often cheaper and more certain than litigation. However, a commercial option is not always available or attractive. For those cases where it is not you may need to plan a legal response.
4. Choose the optimum legal protection. Put yourself in the position of your customer and consider why he or she is likely to find your product attractive. Is it its appearance, the way it works or the reputation of your business? If it is the appearance of your product you should see whether you can register its design either for the UK alone or the whole EU. If its your reputation you should think about registering your business name or logo a trade mark. If it is the way the product works or is made a patent may be the best option. If it cannot easily be reverse engineered you could keep it under wraps as a trade secret. Maybe unregistered design right will be enough. Factors to take into account will include the shelf life of your product, the size and value of the market, whether you want to sell it abroad and all sorts of other matters.
5. Make sure you can enforce your legal protection. Although bootlegging, counterfeiting and piracy are crimes as well as torts primary responsibility for enforcing your intellectual property rights rests with you. That means bringing infringement proceedings in the civil courts. In England and Wales the costs of a High Court action can exceed £1 million. In simpler cases that can be brought in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court recoverable costs are capped at £50,000 for determining liability and £25,000 for assessing damages or other profits to be disgorged. There is a small claims track where costs are limited at a few hundred pounds for certain types of IP claims under £10,000. If you cannot afford such costs out of revenues then you should consider intellectual property insurance or other kinds of funding."

Most legal indemnity policies exclude intellectual property disputes.  For many years, it was very difficult to obtain cover against the costs of IP litigation.  That has changed recently in that there are now several specialist brokers in this field.   The Intellectual Property Office has produced some excellent Guidance on Intellectual Property Insurance, which was last updated on 21 Feb 2020.  The Chartered Instititue of Partent Attorneys publishes a list of brokers and their contact detail,  The Chartered Instititue of Trade Mark Attorneys has also compiled a downloadable list of IP Insurance Providers,  I have written extensively on the topic over the last 20 years and links to my articles can be found at the foot of IPO Guidance: Intellectual Property Insurance which I posted to NIPC Inventors' Club on 25 Feb 2020.

Further information about intellectual property for presenters can be found in Enterprising Ideas - A Guide to Intellectual Property for Startups published by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2021.  I would particularly commend the sections on "Other Strategic Ways to Exploit IP" between pages 38 and 50 which contains excellent advice on transactions with angels and other sources of finance and "Managing Risks" between 51 and 57.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article further may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during normal UK business hours or send me a message through my contact page at any time.

IP Strategy to Scale-Up

 

Author Worthhog Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

The transition of a business from start-up to scale-up is often described as a "chasm".  That is because most scale-ups are very different from start-ups in terms of governance, marketing and funding.  One obvious difference is that start-ups can be funded by their founders themselves, possibly with the support of friends and family and maybe some grants or soft loans whereas scale-ups usually need investment from third parties such as angels, venture capitalists and in a few rare cases the AIM.

There is also a chasm in attitude towards intellectual property.  Jag Singh, Managing Director of Techstars in Berlin, wrote in How startups and SMEs should think about IP: an investor's perspective in the June 2021 WIPO Magazine

"Over the last 15 years, first as an entrepreneur and now as an investor, I’ve seen many award-winning ventures end up in the global startup graveyard. Why? In large part, because very few of them secured intellectual property (IP) rights to protect their business assets."

He explained that that was because of an inadequate understanding of IP and a belief that IP protection is inordinately expensive.  For many start-ups, IP is something that is nice to have but for those who invest in a scale-up adequate IP protection is crucial.   Without such protection, it is only too easy for a predator to swallow a market or technology that has been carefully developed by the start-up. Specialist advice and representation do not come cheap but, as Singh also observed in his article, failure to protect a business's brands, designs, technology and creative output comes with an enormous price tag.  

However, there is such a thing as having too much IP.   In my career at the patent bar, I have seen far more business failures resulting from having too much IP protection than from having too little  That is because businesses apply for patents they will never work, trade marks where they have no trade and designs for products they will never put into production.   That wastes resources because registrations have to be renewed, policed and occasionally defended and enforced. A crisis occurs when those costs amount to more than the company can afford.

To avoid either extreme businesses need to devise IP strategies and integrate those strategies into their business plans. According to Singh, that is one of the indicators for which investors look when deciding whether or not to invest in a business:

"In the modern economy, IP assets often drive current and future revenues, so investors like to see that entrepreneurs have integrated IP rights into their business plans. Evidence of some kind of convincing approach to IP will, at the very least, mean that companies are better aligned with investors on the big question of how to sell the company for billions of dollars one day."

An IP strategy should, of course, take account of a company's research and development and marketing the aims and costs of which should also feature in its business plan.

As every business is different every business's IP strategy should be tailored to its specific needs. In a tech company, the emphasis may be on patenting and trade secrecy.   If the company offers a new service it will focus on branding, data and business format.  The starting point should be the intellectual assets that the business already has and those that it intends to develop.  That will usually require an intellectual asset audit and sometimes specialist valuation.  The costs of patenting and trade mark and design registration should be factored in. Consideration should be given not only to the UK but also to the countries in which the scale-up expects to do business or from where it anticipates competition.  The strategy should provide for validity challenges and infringement actions and make arrangements for deploying an effective response.  Often it is useful to consult an IP strategist when devising the strategy. Ideally, the IP strategist should be someone other than the professional who is already prosecuting your patent, trade mark or design registration applications (see Jane Lambert What is Intellectual Property Strategy?  Updated 1 Sept 2017 NIPC Law).

On 11 Nov 2021, I will chair a seminar at the Menai Science Park (M-SParc) called "Scaling Up - Wales Enterprise Day" that will discuss how start-ups can leap across the chasm to become scale-ups.  Emily Roberts and I have assembled a panel of experts on funding, intellectual asset valuation, scale-ups, patenting and the law.   Edward French of Pinpoint Capital will tell us what VCs and angels look for in a scale-up.  Alison Orr of Inngot will discuss intellectual asset valuation and leverage.  One of BICInnovation's scale-up specialists will talk about growth strategies.  Sean Thomas of Thomas Harrison will outline the patenting and trade mark and design issues in scaling up.  Andrea Knox of Knox Commercial Solicitors will address due diligence, shareholders' agreements and other matters. If you can reach M-SParc by 12:00 on 11 Nov you can attend in person.   Otherwise, you can follow it online.  Either way, you will need to register through Eventbrite.

Later on 11 Nov 2021 there will be a pitching event for businesses that want to become scale-ups before real investors which will also take place before a live audience at M-SParc and streamed online.  This is a unique opportunity to watch angels and possibly other investors in action.   Again, if you can make it to the park by 16:00 you can attend in person.  Alternatively, you can watch over the Internet.  Again, you will need to register with Eventbrite. 

Anyone wishing to discuss this article further may call me on 020 7494 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form.