Intellectual Property & Legal service
Freedom‑to‑Operate (FTO) & IP Risk Assessment for Scaling
Provided by PatentEnter s.r.o. · Czech Republic
Service description
This service provides a risk-based Freedom-to-Operate analysis for market entry, product scaling, fundraising, licensing or partnership activities. It focuses on preventing potential third-party IP infringement by identifying relevant third-party IP rights and assessing their possible impact on the planned technology, product, business model and target markets. The service is intended for EIC-backed start-ups, SMEs, research teams, university spin-offs and technology transfer teams active in deep-tech and other technology-intensive sectors. It is typically delivered within 4–8 weeks, depending on the complexity of the product, target territories and available technical documentation. The service is delivered by in-house patent and IP experts acting as strategic IP coaches and advisors. The work includes review of the technology and commercial context, identification of relevant third-party patents and applications, and risk-based prioritisation of potential IP obstacles. The expected outcome is an FTO risk assessment report, a prioritised IP risk matrix, a design-around strategy overview, and an investor- or partner-ready summary. The service is implemented remotely or in hybrid format through an initial scoping meeting, expert analysis, written outputs and a follow-up discussion.
Despite their best efforts, diligence and professional approach based on our expertise and years of experience, PatentEnter s.r.o. cannot guarantee 100% certainty of finding all relevant patent documents that have been published due to the vast number of patent documents published in many different languages. The risk of not finding an existing relevant document that could pose an infringement risk is proportionally reduced by the number of hours spent on the search but can never be completely eliminated.