Airthings develops and sells products for measuring and monitoring indoor air quality and radon. They are world leaders and sell their systems globally. 90% of the turnover is export. They sell to the consumer market through channels such as Amazon, Best Buy and Elkjøp. They also deliver to office buildings, schools and nurseries. In autumn 2019, they made Time Magazine's list of the 100 best inventions of that year.
Protects the name and the technology
For the business, it is important to protect the trademark "Airthings" so that it is not misused by others who want to enter this market. They already have several examples of companies that have tried to copy their material and trademark. By having trademark protection, they can stop such copies.
They protect the unique technology with patents. This is also to protect against copies, and to defend against potential patent trolls and competitors.
They invest a lot in research and development here in Norway. It is therefore important to protect these investments so that they can continue with their long-term ambitions for strong growth.
They have registered their trademark in Europe, the USA, Canada, China and in large parts of the rest of the world. They have registered patents in the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Europe.
They use a law firm in London to help them with patents and trademark protection.
Offensive IPR strategy
The IPR strategy is to patent everything they consider patentable. This can be architectures, sensor technology and methods. They do not patent algorithms and software, but keep this as "trade secrets".
– It is expensive and time-consuming to register patents and trademarks. But if you are going to build a long-term business and operate in several countries, it is essential that you have a strategy for this.
Øyvind Birkenes
Øyvind Birkenes
Have experienced copying
Airthings has experienced that companies have copied their material and misused their trademark. They have managed to stop this because they have registered the trademark. Large sales channels such as Amazon will, for example, stop selling products that conflict with a registered trademark.
Public support
Airthings has received support from the Research Council, Innovation Norway and SkatteFUNN.
