Peter Finnie, Partner

Peter Finnie is a first-class patent attorney and renowned IP strategist, providing a holistic approach to IP protection and overall business strategy for his clients. Believing that IP is pivotal to many emerging companies, he championed the establishment of his firm’s Kick-startiP^® program, a unique fixed-cost initiative designed to help startup companies understand, identify, develop, and document their IP strategy.

The Kick-startiP^® program begins with an innovation capture session to evaluate whether patent protection is suitable, taking a comprehensive dive into the company’s business plan and fundraising strategy. If seeking patent protection makes sense, a pre-filing novelty search is typically recommended to get a better understanding of the scope of the invention and improve the level of confidence that patent protection could be achieved at an early stage to support fund raising efforts.

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As an integral part of the fixed-cost service, a fixed price pre-filing search is typically outsourced, with the aim of saving valuable attorney time for the subsequent review and analysis of the search results. However, relying on external search firms can introduce a broken telephone phenomenon, as the searcher isn’t privy to the client’s strategic business direction and nuances in the technology. Further, it can take up to 2 weeks until results are returned, void of real-time feedback that can be crucial in fine-tuning the search to elucidate the inventive concept. These challenges prompted a closer look at the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the “sunk cost” outsourcing model. Peter was considering the use of AI solutions to address a range of IP services and chanced upon NLPatent. He wondered whether it could be effectively leveraged to address his startup clients’ needs, so embarked upon a trial.

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During an innovation capture session with a new client who had designed a new method for starting up a PEM electrolyser for generating hydrogen via electrolysis, Peter copy-and-pasted the inventor’s abstract of the invention into NLPatent, with the client looking on. In just 8 minutes, he was surprised (although a little disappointed) to uncover a killer piece of prior art that the client had missed from a simple keyword search on Espacenet^®.The reference referred to hydrogen fuel cells (which are conceptually similar) and clearly disclosed the same underlying technical problem and solution, allowing Peter to provide immediate and actionable feedback to his client.

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NLPatent not only saved time but also ensured that the client did not proceed with costly and time-consuming patent applications for non-novel subject matter. This near-immediate insight empowered Peter to act as a trusted advisor, guiding his client away from unnecessary financial commitments and towards more strategically sound IP decisions.

From the client’s perspective, NLPatent’s rapid turnaround proved to be a significant advantage, eliminating the wait for potentially inconclusive results. Beyond saving time, it ensured they avoided investing significant sums on unpatentable innovation. For Peter, he was able to manage the search, analysis, and opinion, with time to spare; keeping billables at the firm with a result that outperformed his usual search firm.

As a result of this successful evaluation, NLPatent is now a routine part of Peter’s Kick-startiP^® program, as it provides highly relevant results in a short period and helps in fostering trust and confidence with his clients.