When IP is most of what you are buying, diligence is where the deal is won or lost. We evaluate a target's patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and the contracts that govern them so you can price the deal, allocate risk, and structure terms with real information instead of optimism. Our engineering background means we can actually read the code, the claims, and the technical specs rather than taking the data room at face value.
Scoping The Investigation
We tailor the work to the deal in front of you. A full acquisition gets a different review than a minority investment, and the industry tells us which IP forms carry the weight and which issues tend to surface. We set priorities up front so the critical questions get answered first, then go deep within your timeline and budget. You get a plan that fits the transaction, not a one-size review that burns hours on things that do not move the deal.
Patent And Trademark Review
On patents, we examine portfolio scope, prosecution status, claim breadth and validity, remaining term, and the inventor and ownership chain, then weigh infringement exposure, freedom to operate, prior art, and any pending litigation. On trademarks, we confirm registrations across the jurisdictions you care about, verify the marks are actually in use, trace the assignment chain, and check for oppositions or coexistence agreements that could limit what transfers to you at closing.
Copyrights, Trade Secrets, And Contracts
For content, software, and creative businesses, we trace copyright ownership, work-for-hire status, registration, license obligations, and open source usage that can quietly bind the whole codebase. Trade secrets get scrutiny too: what qualifies, what measures protect it, and whether employee and third-party agreements hold up. We read the inbound and outbound licenses, development deals, and change-of-control clauses that decide whether the IP value actually travels with the deal.
Findings You Can Act On
Diligence only helps if you can use it. We turn what we find into risk you can manage: price adjustments, representations and warranties, targeted indemnities, escrow, pre-closing fixes, or post-closing integration steps. You get reporting matched to the moment, from a tight memo flagging deal-breakers to a detailed report and a live issues list, so you and your advisors can decide and move.