Quantum

Quantum technology that needs a patent strategy to match

While they can all be considered “deep-tech”, quantum technologies rarely sit inside a single discipline, and the patent strategy that protects them cannot either. Whether your innovation is a qubit architecture, a control or error-correction method, a quantum communication protocol or a post-quantum cryptographic scheme, protection has to hold together across physics, computer science, engineering and mathematics, and stand up before the European Patent Office whose approach to computer-implemented and quantum inventions is still evolving.

The strategic calls matter early. What should be patented, and what is better kept as a trade secret, particularly where an invention is hard to detect in a finished product? How much should you disclose, and when? Who owns what when the technology has come together from university research, collaborations or in-licensed components? And how does protection in your home market translate into the markets you actually intend to reach?

Our quantum patent attorneys help clients make these calls deliberately rather than by default, and build portfolios that hold up as the science scales and the investment follows.

How we build teams

A quantum matter at Keltie draws on attorneys with genuine scientific grounding in the field. Our quantum patent attorneys include PhD-level physicists, mathematicians and photonics specialists, working alongside our wider software, AI and engineering patent teams, so the technical expertise matches the invention.

 

The mix is set by your technology. A team protecting a superconducting or trapped-ion qubit architecture looks different from one protecting a post-quantum cryptographic method or a quantum sensing device, even though all three are “quantum”. We staff the team to fit the science, rather than the other way around.

Expertise across the sector

 

Our attorneys have technical backgrounds and prosecution experience across the quantum technology landscape, including:

• Quantum computing hardware, including superconducting, trapped-ion, photonic and silicon-spin architectures
• Quantum control systems, error correction, and quantum algorithms and software
• Quantum communications and networks, including quantum key distribution and the quantum internet
• Post-quantum cryptography
• Quantum sensing, imaging and metrology
• Enabling hardware and photonics, including single-photon sources, detectors and integrated photonics
• The artificial intelligence and machine learning that increasingly sits alongside quantum systems

 

What we do

 

We support quantum technology clients across the full IP lifecycle:

• Patent drafting, filing and prosecution before the EPO, and UKIPO – we are also very experienced in optimising protection at the USPTO and other major offices
• Freedom-to-operate analysis and clearance in fast-moving quantum landscapes
• Portfolio strategy, including patent versus trade secret balancing and disclosure planning, with detectability kept in mind from the first draft
• IP due diligence for fundraising, licensing and acquisitions, for both companies and their investors
• Oppositions and appeals, including at the EPO and the Unified Patent Court
• Commercial agreements: licensing, collaborations, assignments and trade secret management
• Patent Box advice, which can be extremely valuable as commercialisation begins.
• Trade marks and design rights, where the commercial story extends beyond the patents
• Working with overseas law firms to craft specifications that stand the best chance before the EPO, often with advice before PCT filing
  
  

Start-up, Scale-up and Commercialisation

Many companies in this space are in the start-up or scale-up phase - we are extremely familiar with the issues that arise for deep-tech companies in these stages of development, and we work hard to customise our services and the timeline for protection to match your commercial plans.

Common questions

What does a quantum patent attorney do?

A quantum patent attorney drafts and prosecutes patent applications for quantum inventions, advises on what to patent and what to keep as a trade secret, assesses freedom to operate, and builds and manages quantum patent portfolios. At Keltie, our quantum patent attorneys combine scientific training in the field with experience before the EPO and UKIPO.

Can you patent a quantum computing invention?

Yes. Many quantum computing inventions are patentable, including hardware architectures, control and error-correction methods, and applications of quantum algorithms, although the patentability of computer-implemented aspects has to be navigated carefully, particularly at the European Patent Office. Early advice helps frame an invention so that it stands the best chance of protection.

How do you protect quantum inventions that are hard to detect?

Where an invention would be difficult to detect in a competitor’s product, patenting is not always the best route, because a patent requires public disclosure but is only valuable if infringement can be identified. We weigh patent protection against trade secret protection for each invention, and keep detectability in mind from the first draft.

Do you work with investors and overseas law firms?

Yes. We carry out IP due diligence on quantum patent portfolios for investors, and we work with law firms in other jurisdictions to prepare specifications that give their clients the strongest position before the EPO and across Europe.