Background The company Wall Street makes products for the building industry.

Most of their products are to do with covering and sealing of walls of buildings. They have been working on a product for preventing water leakage into, and dampness in, existing cellars. The method involves drilling a large number of small holes through the cellar wall and then injecting a liquid sealant through the holes to form a protective coating on the outside of the buried cellar. They have shown that the small holes do not affect the structural integrity of the walls. If the procedure does not work perfectly first time, areas of dampness are photographically recorded and then later during a dry spell, further holes are bored and sealant injected. The method is cheaper than excavating the soil around the house to expose the cellar walls for treatment. The problem Six months ago at a building fair they noticed a Dutch company offering something exactly like their proposed product. They obtained a sample and analysed it. The chemical composition of the sealant is not the same as their product. The polymer base is different and Wall Street engineers believe the Wall Street product will have advantages. The development of the Wall Street product is almost complete. They intend to launch the product at the same trade fair that is run annually. That is now only 5 months away. On the competitors website it says their product is patented. But a search has revealed nothing. Wall Street does not know what they should do. The challenge How can Wall Street understand its present risks and future opportunities? Should Wall Street seek intellectual property protection for its product and if so what kind of IP should they chose? What kinds of threat can be posed by the competitor and what can Wall Street do about it? If the competitor does have a patent how can Wall Street oppose it? How can Wall Street test in a safe and reliable manner whether they infringe it? Should Wall Street change its product design?