European chemical patent attorneyGood patents protect your invention.
The best ones protect your business
I am Loek Steffanie, a European Patent Attorney with a technical background in chemistry. I work with companies and R&D teams to protect their inventions in Europe and to put their patents to work for their business goals.
- 01European patent applications
- 02Patent searches and freedom to operate
- 03Patent strategy
- 04More value from your patents
Protecting your innovation is not enough. In the end, it comes down to market share, exclusivity and growth.
That is why I see patents as business assets that create value and competitive advantage, not only as legal tools. Before we decide whether and how to protect your invention, I look at your business goals and strategy. Sometimes a patent is the best choice. In other cases, keeping the technology as a trade secret is the smarter move.
In a strategy call we look at your innovation and at what you want to achieve with it commercially.
- 25+ yearsExperience as a patent attorney
- Across EuropeDutch patent attorney & European Patent Attorney
- WorldwidePatent applications worldwide with local patent attorneys. Infringement cases in several European countries, the US, China and Türkiye.
What should a patent do for your business?
Patenting a good invention is one thing. Protecting your business with it is another.
New technology often starts with an idea that is developed and tested further. At some point the results come in: the technology works. Naturally, you then want to patent it as quickly as possible.
The assumption is often that this also protects the position of the company. That does not happen automatically. So the real question is what that patent does for your business.
A valuable patent therefore starts with two questions: what did you invent, and what do you want to protect for your business? Answering the second one takes insight into the market, your competitors and the advantage you want to keep or extend.
That is where patent strategy begins, and that is where I can help. Read more about what I do for companies in Europe and beyond.
For companies and R&D teams with a technical or chemical innovation
Whether you develop one key product or several innovations at once, the size of your company is not what matters. What counts is that your technology has commercial potential and that you want to make deliberate choices about how to protect it and use it for your business.
One of these questions often comes up. Click the one that is closest to your situation.
- Situation
- “You have a patent application at home, for example in the US, or a PCT application and want protection in Europe. Which route fits your business?”
- Topic
- European patent protection
- Who you talk to
- Loek Steffanie European Patent Attorney
- What I do first
- I look at the markets in Europe that matter to you, your competitors there and your deadlines. Based on that, we choose between a European patent, national patents or a combination.
- First step
- Contact me well before your 12-month priority deadline or the 31-month deadline for entering the European phase of your PCT application, so we can still shape the European application.
- Situation
- “You are about to launch your product in Europe, for example at a trade show. Are you free to operate, or could you run into patents held by others?”
- Topic
- Freedom to operate
- Who you talk to
- Loek Steffanie European Patent Attorney
- What I do first
- I find out which patents and pending applications held by others are relevant in the European countries where you sell or manufacture, and whether your product falls within their claims.
- First step
- Get a freedom-to-operate (FTO) analysis before the launch or the show, while you can still adjust your product or your plans.
- Situation
- “You already hold patents in Europe. Do they still protect what matters commercially?”
- Topic
- More value from your patents
- Who you talk to
- Loek Steffanie European Patent Attorney
- What I do first
- For each patent, we look at what it still protects, what it costs and what it adds to your exclusivity and market position.
- First step
- Then we decide together which patents to put to better use and which ones you can let lapse.
- Situation
- “You are talking to investors or partners. How strong is your IP position and what does it add to the value of your company?”
- Topic
- Patent strategy
- Who you talk to
- Loek Steffanie European Patent Attorney
- What I do first
- I look at which protection gives you exclusivity and carries weight in a financing round or an acquisition, and where your position is still exposed.
- First step
- That conversation is best held well before you sit down with an investor or partner.
- Situation
- “You have developed something new. Is a patent the best choice, or should you keep the technology secret?”
- Topic
- Patent or trade secret
- Who you talk to
- Loek Steffanie European Patent Attorney
- What I do first
- I start with what you want to protect for your business. Then I check whether a competitor can tell from your end product how it was made. If so, a secret will not hold and a patent makes more sense.
- First step
- Ideally we discuss this before anything becomes public: once it is out, you can no longer keep it secret. And unlike the US, Europe has no grace period for your own disclosure: once you make the invention public, you can no longer patent it in Europe.
Does one of these sound familiar? Book a strategy call.
Patents that fit where your business is heading
A patent discussion often starts with the invention: what has been developed, and how can we protect it? That gives a technical starting point with the invention at the center. In effect, it is an inside-out view.
To make a patent fit your business, I do not stop there. I also look from the outside in. What is happening in the market? Where are your competitors heading? Which applications could become interesting for your business?
Not everything can be predicted. But by taking that commercial context into account from the start, you can align the claims, which define what the patent protects, with that context.
That way the patent protects more than what you developed today: it also fits where your business is heading. This applies to a European application just as much as to the first filing in your home country.
One point of contact
You work directly with me, from the first conversation to the grant of your European patent.
At home in chemistry
Compounds, formulations, processes and materials. We can go into technical depth quickly.
Honest advice
If a patent is not the best route for your business, I tell you. Then we weigh the alternatives together and make a deliberate choice.
From a European patent application to more value from your patents
It often starts with one concrete question, and that is the one we tackle first.
European patent applications
Your invention captured in a strong application filed with the European Patent Office, either directly or as the European phase of your PCT application, built around what your business wants to achieve.
Patent protection in EuropePatent searches and freedom to operate
Knowing what already exists and whether you are free to launch your product in Europe. That lowers the risk of running into someone else's patent after the launch.
Searches and freedom to operatePatent strategy
Deciding which protection pays off and how your patent applications connect to your business goals.
Patent strategyMore value from your patents
If you already hold patents, we look at whether they still serve your business goals and where the opportunities are.
More value from your patents
I come from chemistry and from hands-on R&D
My roots are in chemistry. I started as a chemical engineer and researcher and then worked for many years at an international chemical company. That is why I can judge an invention on its technical merits and know how to capture it in claims that hold up.
I have also worked on business projects, so a conversation with a board or an investor is familiar ground for me. You need that combination when a patent also has to make commercial sense.
What you can count on
Technology
Chemistry, materials, coatings, biomedical applications and biotech.
IP strategy
Patents, trade secrets and other IP rights considered together.
Business strategy
Protection that strengthens your position against competitors and with partners.
A chemical patent needs a chemist
With a chemical invention, the value is often in the details. Which compounds does a claim still cover? How broadly do you describe a formulation? Which process parameters do you specify? Those choices decide whether a competitor can later design around your patent.
As a chemical patent attorney, my work covers chemical compounds, formulations, chemical processes, polymers and plastics, coatings, pharma and life sciences, food, catalysis, battery materials and green chemistry.
Working with a European chemical patent attorney
A European patent attorney helps you protect a technical invention in Europe. I assess whether your invention is patentable, search the prior art, draft the application and handle the proceedings before the European Patent Office. At Patents4Business I add the business question: does the protection fit what you want to achieve commercially?
No. Patents are territorial, so for Europe you need a European patent or national patents. Read how European patent protection works for companies outside Europe.
Yes, for the European procedure after filing: companies from outside Europe must be represented before the EPO by a professional representative. I work alongside your counsel at home and handle the European part.
A chemical patent has to anticipate how a competitor will try to design around it: a slightly different compound, another solvent, a shifted temperature range. I assess the chemistry of the invention myself and draft claims that still cover those variants.
An invention has to be new, inventive (not obvious) and industrially applicable. Whether yours meets them usually becomes clear after a conversation and a first search of what already exists. Just as important is whether protection pays off commercially. I ask that question right away.
Then I tell you straight away. In the first conversation we both find out whether I can help you. If your question concerns enforcement, an ongoing dispute or an acquisition, I support you through Novacon IP.
Do you have an innovation with commercial potential?
Let's look at how to turn it into a lasting advantage in Europe, one that also counts with partners and investors.