Semiconductor and quantum technologies are increasingly overlapping, and collaboration is becoming essential.
But building an entire technology stack alone is hard, and, unless you’re a technology giant, few companies achieve it. It is particularly difficult in quantum, where hardware, software, algorithms, networking, and fabrication usually sit across different organisations. So naturally, collaboration is a logical step. However, as much as collaboration brings opportunity, it also carries risk. At the centre of that risk is intellectual property (IP) – the foundational currency that serves industries.
If you collaborate with other companies and your IP isn’t in place, you risk your future protection. By protecting your IP, you are using a shield to safeguard your products, processes, and ideas, as well as building strong and clear technological bridges.
I spoke to Gemma Martynwood, UK & European Patent Attorney and Partner at EIP, to understand more about how IP works and what companies need to do to ensure they are protected. In this article, she explains that many of the challenges facing the sector are not technical, but structural: who owns what, who can use what, and what happens when collaborations end.
What IP actually means in practice
IP is often referred to as a single umbrella concept, but in reality, it covers several different rights.
In the context of semiconductors and quantum, this often means patents, which protect technical inventions such as devices, methods, or architectures. However, IP also includes trademarks, designs, copyright, and trade secrets, each of which plays a different role and offers different protection.
For technology companies, patents are often the most visible form of protection. They give the owner the right to stop others from making, using or selling the patented invention for up to 20 years, in exchange for publicly explaining how it works. Trade secrets take a different approach. Instead of disclosure, companies keep valuable information confidential, sometimes indefinitely.
“[Trade secrets] can be really valuable, because they can be used to protect the secret sauce of your business.”
Deciding on whether to patent or keep something secret is a complex area for a single company. In a collaborative environment, that decision becomes even more vital.
Collaboration is essential, but ownership is not always clear
Quantum technology is still in a relatively early stage, and so collaboration is the norm rather than the exception. Martynwood says that most quantum companies will specialise in one specific part of the stack: “They might focus on quantum error correction, or quantum networking, or quantum algorithms, but really, to get the whole thing to work, they need to work together.”
Because of its collaborative model, it often brings startups, scale-ups, and universities together with established semiconductor companies. While that openness accelerates innovation, it also creates uncertainty around IP ownership, particularly if those fundamental conversations are delayed in the buzz of innovation.
“Often, in practice, what happens is that companies start working together, and then they get to a point and realise, ‘oh, we should have thought about this [protection] before.’”
Martynwood explains that a key issue is the distinction between background IP and foreground IP. Background IP is what each party brings into the collaboration. Foreground IP is what is developed together. If access rights are not agreed upon up front, a company may later discover it cannot legally use the technology it helped create.
“If, for example, the other company can’t use that [jointly-developed] method, they won’t be able to make the product using that method, which could be catastrophic for that company if the product is core to their business and there are no viable alternative production methods.”
The power balance between quantum and semiconductors
When quantum startups collaborate with established semiconductor companies, the imbalance in IP portfolios can be huge. This is because semiconductor firms often bring decades of protected technology and manufacturing experience to the table, while quantum companies, being newer, may rely on smaller, more focused IP positions.
This makes clarity even more important. Without it, smaller companies risk losing control over their innovation, while larger companies risk disputes that slow development and damage partnerships.
The issue becomes even more complex when collaborations involve parent companies, spin-outs, or changing corporate strategies.
“What happens at the end of the collaboration? if the parent company then decides they want to change direction, what happens in that situation? These are questions you need to know the answer to.”
Protective collaboration agreements
Rather than relying on goodwill alone, Martynwood says that formal collaboration agreements, even in supportive, close-knit communities, are very important.
“[Agreements are] not necessarily looking to put anyone in a worse position. It’s trying to make sure that everyone is fairly protected.”
These agreements act as a kind of technical “prenup”, setting out ownership, access rights, exit scenarios, and future use of jointly developed technology. While they can feel uncomfortable at an early stage, they reduce the risk of conflict when the technology becomes valuable.
What this means for the UK ecosystem
The UK has strong universities and early-stage support for quantum and semiconductor innovation, but there is a recurring gap at the scale-up stage. When companies are forced to look overseas for funding, manufacturing, or partnerships, IP ownership can quickly become fragmented.
Ensuring that IP is clearly defined, protected, and retained in the UK is therefore both a legal and a strategic strategy. Having strong IP frameworks makes collaboration safer, attracts investment, and helps companies stay rooted in the UK ecosystem.
Getting IP right early
For all collaborating companies, but especially those working across semiconductors and quantum, IP should not be treated as an afterthought. The earlier that ownership, access, and protection are addressed, the easier the collaboration becomes.
IP is not about slowing innovation or restricting collaboration. Done properly, it ensures that companies can work together with confidence, knowing that their contributions and their future freedom to operate are protected.
