Whenever a company is planning to develop and launch a new product, a major risk, particularly in technology sectors where there is extensive patenting, is that commercialization may be blocked by a competitor who holds a patent for a technology incorporated within that product. This is why many companies, at an early stage, seek to secure their “freedom to operate” (FTO), i.e. to ensure that the commercial production, marketing and use of their new product, process or service does not infringe the IP rights of others.

Learning Objectives:

This training session provides an overview of:

• What is Freedom to Operate (FTO), what are the different FTO types?
• What level of accuracy can be chosen in the data analysis?
• Why is FTO strategically important for commercialisation activities of SMEs?
• When should SMEs choose to invest in FTO analysis?
• and how much should they budget for that?