Back in January, we reported that National Westminster Bank, commonly known as ‘NatWest’, is offering a scheme to help businesses to secure funding which allows the businesses to use their intellectual property assets as collateral.
The bank has now issued their first IP-backed loan to UK software company, Sci-Net, for £700,000. Sci-Net, who have already established partnerships with major companies, including Microsoft, has stated that this loan will enable it to ‘grow the software further so [we’re] able to work with more businesses across various sectors’.
NatWest’s new IP loans start from £250,000 against up to 50% of the value of a firm’s intellectual property assets, which is determined by Inngot, a specialist IP evaluation company.
Inngot’s CEO has highlighted the significance of NatWest’s IP backed loans, stating that ‘it rewards UK SMEs for investing in IP, and I believe it will help more companies to realise the importance and value of a strong IP strategy. I can’t think of a better way to encourage SMEs to take IP more seriously than to show them that they can borrow against its value’.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
