Helping Innovation Become Commercially Valuable Intellectual Property
Our IP specialists have been supporting one of the world’s leading FMCG businesses with a structured invention harvesting and patent selection programme. British American Tobacco invests heavily in research and development to drive innovation across its next-generation product portfolio. By working alongside the client’s technical and legal teams, we helped ensure valuable inventions were identified, assessed and captured at the right time, enabling a stronger, more commercially focused patent filing programme.
The Client
Sector: FMCG / consumer product innovation
British American Tobacco is a global consumer goods company with significant investment in research, development and product innovation. Its dedicated innovation facilities and specialist R&D teams continually develop new technologies and products for international markets.
With innovation taking place across multiple technical disciplines and development teams, ensuring valuable intellectual property is identified and protected is an essential part of maintaining competitive advantage.
The Challenge
The pace of innovation within British American Tobacco’s R&D function meant new inventions were being generated faster than they could consistently be captured, assessed and progressed through the patent filing process.
Without a structured approach to invention harvesting, there was a risk that commercially valuable ideas could be overlooked, documented too late or filed without a consistent assessment of their strategic value. The business required additional support to work alongside its existing technical and legal teams, ensuring inventions were identified promptly and robust decisions could be made about which innovations should be protected.
Therefore, they reached out to our IP specialists at Panoramix IP to support them.
The Solution
Working as an extension of British American Tobacco’s technical and legal teams, Panoramix IP delivered an interim invention harvesting and management programme over a 12-month period to support new product development and patent selection.
Through structured invention harvesting sessions with inventors, we captured new ideas as they emerged, triaged invention disclosures and applied a consistent commercial and technical assessment process to each opportunity. This enabled the business to identify which innovations were most suitable for patent protection, while recognising where publication or alternative approaches offered a better commercial outcome.
By embedding a structured and repeatable process into the innovation programme, we helped ensure inventions were captured at the point they arose rather than reconstructed retrospectively, improving both the quality and efficiency of patent decision-making.
The Outcome
The result was a more focused, commercially driven patent filing programme that aligned intellectual property investment with the innovations most likely to deliver long-term value.
Key outcomes include:
• Structured invention harvesting embedded within the innovation process
• Timely capture of invention disclosures as ideas emerged
• Consistent commercial and technical assessment of new inventions
• Improved confidence in patent filing decisions
• Clear, documented rationale for protecting, publishing or holding back inventions
• Reduced risk of valuable innovations being overlooked
• A patent portfolio focused on technologies with the greatest commercial potential
These improvements gave British American Tobacco a robust and defensible framework for invention selection, helping its technical and legal teams make informed patent decisions while ensuring intellectual property investment remained closely aligned with commercial objectives.
Looking for Interim Invention Harvesting and Outsourced Patent Management?
If your business is generating innovation faster than it can be assessed, Panoramix IP can help. Our experienced UK, US and International patent attorneys work with businesses across engineering, consumer products, life sciences and manufacturing to identify commercially valuable inventions, develop effective patent strategies and build intellectual property portfolios that support long-term business success.
If you’re managing a growing patent portfolio, preparing for international expansion or looking for a more responsive intellectual property partner, Panoramix IP can help. We offer a free 45-minute IP Clinic, which allows you to discuss your IP requirements with our specialists.
