Former Rouse managing director Erik Oskarsson has co-launched AI-powered trademark protection platform Patentir, alongside tech entrepreneur Viktor Lundberg, designed to help businesses secure and register brand names.
The Stockholm-based company, which Lundberg has been working on for the past four years, aims to design a smoother process for protecting trademarks for start-ups when they have decided on a company name.
Patentir works by checking a brand name and searching whether another company has already chosen a similar trademark, with the first offering focusing on EU trademarks. After it has helped the client to register the business name and logo, AI is used as guidance to estimate the chances of a successful application.
Newly created trademarks are also monitored, with alerts sent for potentially conflicting trade names.
Oskarsson, CEO and co-founder of Patentir, said: “We have built the platform around a few key principles. We aim to offer high accessibility and ease of use, underpinned by state-of-the-art technology.
“We use a combination of technologies, ranging from machine learning, large language models, vector databases and secure, encrypted back-end infrastructure. Our database currently holds over 52 million vectors.”
He said the platform has two main areas – an open area for people without an account, and another for account holders that features portfolio management, automated prosecution and an always-on monitoring platform designed to make the IP experience as “smooth as possible”.
Oskarsson said: “In the open area, users can search for trademark availability, obtain an approval forecast and file their trademark with either EUIPO or USPTO.”
He added that, so far, the company has been funded by the founding team and a Swedish family office. However, to scale further, it is exploring various financing alternatives.
Oskarsson also noted how IP as a legal field is relevant for almost all businesses globally.
He said: “Trademark filing volumes across EUIPO and USPTO are up 45% and 55% respectively since 2016, with the fastest-growing categories being research and technology.
“Yet the field of intellectual property remains low in terms of digitalisation and, for the non-initiated, quite opaque. I believe automation and intelligent technology will drive both client value and improved efficiency within our legal domain.”
He added that standardisation across jurisdictions and filing systems makes IP law a good match with generative AI and associated technologies.
Oskarsson previously spent almost seven years with law firm Rouse, where he was appointed general manager in 2021 before he co-created Patentir. Prior to that he was a partner and management consultant at IP specialists IPQ, which was acquired by Rouse in 2019.
Lundberg co-founded Stockholm-based global design company Cords last year, and five years ago created Rocket Ventures AB, a seed stage technology investment firm.
In other legaltech developments, last week tech giant Microsoft signalled its intention to move further into the legal market with the launch of more than 20 purpose-built legal AI skills for its Copilot platform, a decision that many commentators have described as a potential game changer.
The unveiling follows similar moves by Google, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Also last week, US employment law software platform SixFifty launched an agentic HR compliance tool to help companies access employment law information.
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