Due Diligence
Technical Due Diligence Financial Due Diligence Freedom to OperateBuilding & Leadership
Venture Building Mentor-Coaching Private PlacementsFreedom to Operate answers a single core question: can this company manufacture, use, and sell its product in a given jurisdiction without infringing valid, active third-party patents? It is binary per patent—clear, blocked, or redesign required—and is distinct from patentability.
We analyze opportunities based on technical maturity—TRL 3 to 9—across any geography, technology stack, or industry sector. We follow the problem, not the trend.
From proof-of-concept to deployment.
Expert contributors across the Western Hemisphere.
Broad spectrum deep tech evaluation.
Guided purely by commercial opportunity.
— We do not review TRL 1–2 (initial concept and basic research stages).
A product may be unpatentable yet enjoy full freedom to operate. Conversely, it can be fully patentable while still infringing a dominant third-party patent. These are fundamentally distinct questions.
From product mapping to final legal opinion, without skipping the critical stage where infringement is actually judged: the patent claims.
Identify core product specifications, key technical features, and target manufacturing, usage, or sales jurisdictions.
Search granted patents and pending applications covering each feature across all target jurisdictions.
Isolate active patents whose independent claims plausibly read on the product features.
Conduct claim-by-claim analysis on the resulting shortlist.
Evaluate invalidity grounds, redesign workarounds, and licensing acquisition costs for identified blocking patents.
Deliver opinion: clear, conditionally clear (via redesign), or blocked.
Searching exclusively by assignee: most blocking patents belong to unexpected market players or non-practicing entities.
Ignoring pending applications: published applications turn into active blocking patents upon allowance.
Restricting focus to primary jurisdiction: manufacturing, sourcing, or selling overseas can trigger infringement liability.
Reading only abstracts and titles: patent infringement is adjudicated strictly on the independent claims.
Conflating patentability searches with FTO reviews: each serves completely different legal and commercial scopes.
Prior to commercial launch, raising material institutional capital, expanding into new geographies, or executing M&A and licensing deals. Institutional investors increasingly demand FTO clearing prior to Series B funding and during PE tech acquisitions.
We deliver an investor screening landscape—competitor patent maps, dominant assignees, white space, and jurisdictional risk—and articulate formal claim-by-claim opinions alongside specialized patent counsel within our network.
Fully credited toward any retained service.
A tailored proposal is provided following the Discovery Call.
Targeted consultations without a full diligence mandate.
Formal opinion costs scale by target jurisdiction and are finalized following the Discovery Call.
An FTO evaluation determines whether a company can manufacture, market, or sell its product in a specified jurisdiction without infringing active, valid third-party patents. It is distinct from patentability: an unpatentable product can have complete freedom to operate, whereas a patented product may still infringe a broader third-party patent.
Prior to commercial rollout, institutional funding rounds, geographic expansion, or executing M&A and licensing agreements. Investors routinely require FTO clearance before Series B rounds and PE acquisitions involving proprietary tech.
A full formal legal opinion from specialized patent counsel takes several weeks and scales in cost by jurisdiction. An investor screening landscape—evaluating competitor patent density and key claim infringement risks—is delivered much faster. Formal claim-by-claim opinions remain specialized legal counsel work.
They are related but distinct. A patent landscape maps overall patent ownership and innovation trends in a technical field. An FTO review narrows down specifically to patents whose claims could be infringed by a defined product, returning a binary risk verdict: clear, blocked, or workaround required.
A product can be patentable and still infringe. Ensuring you can manufacture, use, and sell without liability: that is the mandate.
We maintain active collaborations with a global network of over 50 independent PhD specialists. We deploy them on demand, tailored to each due diligence mandate, with active contributors across four key geographic hubs.
Begin with a 30-minute Discovery Call. We will scope the FTO evaluation by target jurisdiction prior to your next milestone.
Book Discovery Call →