Charles believes that the IP playing field needs to be levelled out so that innovative businesses can grow and take a seat alongside multi-nationals to collaborate and deliver for their customers and, at the same time, stay ahead of the market.

Charles Clark is an internationally recognised expert in IP strategy, having been included in the IAM300 of the World’s Leading IP Strategists since 2015. He has additional recognitions in the field, including being listed as an IP Star by MIP.

He has a degree in physics and qualified by exam in the UK and Europe as a patent attorney, although he no longer works as an attorney. Initially, after graduating university, Charles followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the UK’s MOD research and development establishment (later becoming QinetiQ), where he worked as a research scientist developing novel laser systems and optics for military applications and vehicle defence systems. This work brought him into contact with the world of IP and he pivoted his career to train as a patent attorney. He left the profession to set up IP Arkitek and provide commercially strategic advisory services, focussing on high growth tech businesses.

Over 20 years of his career were spent in-house where he gained first hand experience of handling and managing IP in various business processes, such as initial public offerings (at the LSE and NASDAQ), all phases of acquisitions on the buy and sell side (identification, assessment and integration), divestments or exit planning, contracting or partnering with third parties, as well the day to day IP operations needed to build world class IP portfolios. Since 2008 he has been in leadership positions with different organisations in various sectors, including precision engineering, manufacturing, consumer goods and energy.

He founded IP Arkitek to help and advise enterprises of all sizes, from global conglomerates to lone inventors. His passion however is to help growth businesses in the technology sector to unlock value from their innovations. This is born out of working in a corporate ventures team of a FTSE100 energy business.

Charles believes that more businesses should identify and preserve their ideas to unlock their value. The IP playing field needs to be levelled out so that innovative businesses can grow and take a seat alongside multi-nationals as collaborators and partners to enable the best possible customer experience.