i2r Packaging Solutions Ltd

How we help our clients reduce costs, mitigate risk and build their business

Background

When Peter Reay left a major supplier of food packing trays to set up his own business, he needed to know that the backing he received from a private equity firm would be safe.

Peter had a vision to supply major supermarket chains with trays for packaging chilled food, such as fresh chicken and ready meals, that would be just as strong as existing products, but would use significantly less material and therefore be kinder to the environment.

The issue

Being a new start up, i2r needed to protect the investment they had made in these new designs, but also ensure that they would not run into problems with their competitors' intellectual property (IP).

The solution

Working with Peter, Withers & Rogers were able to keep costs down by focusing the IP clearance searching on the companies that represented the greatest threats to their business. By working in parallel with the design process we were also able to ensure that changes to the designs were incorporated early on, before a commitment to expensive tooling had been made.

Once the designs had been finalised, i2r needed to obtain protection for the tray designs. Whilst it may have been possible to obtain a patent on various innovative features of the trays, Peter felt that the cost was simply too much to bear at that stage. So instead we looked to make the most of the design registration system in order to protect the appearance of the trays throughout the European Union. By exploiting the facility to seek protection for multiple aspects of the design in a single application, various distinctive visual aspects of the tray were protected quickly and cost effectively.

The outcome

Since this initial protection was obtained in 2007, Withers & Rogers have gone on to advise i2r about further new products in their expanding range and i2r have gone from strength to strength.

The company now produces containers for Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons. i2r has established a class-leading manufacturing base in Telford, creating 20 new jobs and, in January 2009, cut a deal with a large Italian packaging manufacturer that secured significant investment for expansion and opened a new market for their products.

What the client says

"We use Withers & Rogers because we have found them to provide extremely practical, commercial advice at very competitive rates in relation to our patent and I.P issues."

Peter Reay, Chief Executive Officer, i2r

“Withers & Rogers have the broad technical expertise needed to deal with the diverse Inventions emerging from Aston; we find them friendly and efficient, and together we have developed an excellent working relationship.”

Peter Shearer, Director of the Business Partnership Unit, Aston University