The UK Intellectual Property Office has launched an IP Healthcheck page. It is free but you have to register.
Many companies are poorly informed about the intellectual property owned by the company. They may know about the patents, registered designs and registered trade marks they have, or perhaps they do not have any. Are they aware of the automatic rights they have such as copyright, design right, unregistered trade marks and trade secrets ? The idea is to get companies to answer questions so that they become more aware of the intellectual property they actually possess.
A confidential report is sent back once the questions are answered. Inevitably this cannot be sophisticated, but at least it is a start for companies that simply don't know where to start. The knowledge of what they have can be used to gain a commercial advantage or to get financing, for example.
The links on the left hand side of the page are very useful as they list many sources of further help such as advisors and libraries that specialise in intellectual property. There are also links to business support publications such as non-disclosure agreements (also called confidentiality agreements).
In my experience a lack of awareness of contracts and non-disclosure agreements is often the biggest problems for start-ups who simply don't know where to start. Rather than talking to other companies and making verbal agreements I suggest that they first start asking for help on strategy from advisors. For example, here in London the British Library offers free one-hour Business & IP information clinics, where staff talk on a "one to one" basis to those planning to start up a business.
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