From smart recycling to bio-based materials, startups are developing key technologies to address the climate emergency. But to succeed, these innovations must also be protected and leveraged.
A well-crafted patent does more than protect an invention: it reassures investors, enhances the company’s credibility, and supports its growth.
Intellectual Property (IP) is becoming a strategic lever for startups committed to ecological transition.
Startups, Laboratories, SMEs: The Green Innovation Ecosystem
Many innovations emerge from public research laboratories, large corporations, SMEs, and startups, across fields as diverse as renewable energy, energy efficiency, biodiversity protection, decarbonization, mobility, new materials, construction, agriculture, and food.
On World Intellectual Property Day, dedicated this year to sustainable development, it is essential to highlight these innovations.
Among them, many are protected by patents in France and/or abroad to secure a legal monopoly, gain a technological edge over competitors, enable inventors to benefit from their research, help startups to raise funds and gain visibility more easily, and allow SMEs and large corporations to showcase their innovation capabilities to customers.
A Wide Range of Sectors in Ecological Transition
From the design of recyclable skis to 3D-printing of surfboards using bio-based materials, , upcycling organic waste into luxury goods , recycling nylon fibers from tights and stockings or carbon fibers from composite materials to manufacture new products, optimizing household shower water cycles, reusing brewery residues or fruit and vegetable peels, developing renewable-energy-powered sound systems, or eco-designing cosmetic packaging,companies in these specialized fields have turned to Santarelli for support in their industrial property strategy, particularly in protecting, valuing, and defending their innovations.
An IP Strategy Designed from the Outset
The firm’s patent attorneys are usually involved at a very early stage with their clients to identify patentable innovations. They support many innovative, flexible, and agile startups that, often from their very inception, focus on solving challenges related to protecting the planet.
Cleantech Open France: A Lasting Commitment to Innovation
In this same spirit, Santarelli has been deeply involved for years in Cleantech Open France, serving as a jury member in various categories of the startup competition. Each year, the winners invent tomorrow’s solutions, and many have become, or are on their way to becoming,leaders in their respective fields.
Innovation: A Lever to Meet Global Challenges
The challenges ahead are immense and global. Technological innovation is undoubtedly one of the ways to address them, and we are proud to be one of the links in this long chain, joining forces with our clients in this exciting journey.
April 2024
Contributing author
Frank Sauvestre
Partner | European Patent Attorney