AN award-winning intellectual property consultancy is celebrating its fifth year in business.

Christopher Robertson, an IP expert with more than a decade of experience, set up Robertson IP in 2019 aiming to make the IP system more accessible to SMEs and individual entrepreneurs.

Since then, the consultancy has grown from a home-based, patent drafting agency into an internationally-recognised IP firm managing portfolios for hundreds of clients worldwide from its Cardiff office.

Mr Robertson, who has a Masters Degree in Physics and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law, began his career at the Intellectual Property Office in Newport in 2012, before qualifying as a Patent Examiner, specialising in electronic inventions such as electric vehicle charging and driving technologies.

While on secondment with the Unrepresented Applicant Unit he became aware that “individuals and businesses were without access to professional representation and at risk of undervaluing their inventions due to a lack of expertise in protecting them effectively”.

“I decided to take the plunge and set up on my own,” explained the Newport-based father-of-one.

“I established the business with the idea of keeping it simple, writing patent applications and then prosecuting them before the Patent Office, on behalf of the inventors to get them through to grant.”

The usual route to obtaining professional help in patent and trade mark matters is via a patent or trade mark attorney, specially-qualified lawyers, neither of which Mr Robertson is, though he is working towards qualifying as a Patent Attorney.

“I do things a little bit differently to most attorneys,” he added.

“I originally put a fixed price list on the website so clients knew what they were getting before contacting me.”

“It can cost between £5,000 and £10,000 for a patent application, which a lot of people who have really good inventions can’t afford. This is where I’m able to provide that middle ground.”

Within six months Mr Robertson hired extra staff and co-working space in Newport to accommodate his growing business.

“When the Pandemic hit we transitioned to working from home but the work began to dry up as small businesses, that were among my target market, were unfortunately closing,”

By the end of the Pandemic he took the difficult decision to scale down the business.

Since re-locating to Blue Koala Office Solutions in Cardiff in 2022, the business has grown and now looks after 200 clients.

“I’ve extended my service offering to international patent, trade marks and registered designs and provide training courses to anyone who wants to understand intellectual property a little bit better.”

“We’re dedicated to levelling the playing field in intellectual property, empowering innovators to protect and maximise the value of their creations.”

“I see all kinds of inventions from sheds to a humane fly trap. One client successfully won investment after appearing on the BBC 1 series Dragons’ Den with a nose clip air filter.”

Robertson IP, named as one of the Top 100 Go-To-Businesses at the Zokit Business Awards South Wales 2022, recently launched a new website to mark the milestone.