As technological development continues to shape how business is conducted, commercial enterprises are creating and using more intellectual property (IP) than ever before. Although IP is key to the digital economy, many businesses still do not consider IP to be a factor in how they might achieve their strategic objectives, and so it is often underutilised. This is unfortunate, as considered use of IP has the potential to enable a business to achieve a variety of goals, including generating revenue, increasing market share, enhancing brand reputation, protecting against dishonest competitors and increasing the overall value of an organisation.
What is IP?
Unlike “real” property (such as houses and cars) IP refers to property rights in intangible assets (meaning creations of the mind such as inventions, literary works, valuable information etc.). Examples of IP rights include patents, trade marks, design rights, copyright, rights in databases and trade secrets.
Depending on what your business does, you might create or use lots of different types of IP, for example:
- Product designs, including packaging, images and footage of products.
- Logos, brand names, and symbols.
- Inventions created through research and development activities.
- Proprietary software code created for you by a software development company.
- Digital assets, including your domain names, social media handles and databases containing valuable commercial information (such as sales information) created by your organisation.
- Marketing copy and materials.
- Trade secrets and confidential information.
Do you know how IP is used in your business?
IP is often used in different ways by disparate parts of a business. For example, one part of a business may be responsible for commercial licensing of company brands, another maintains a register of design rights, the research and development arm will create and use new IP rights, technology teams may develop software, customer account teams will gather and store customer information in databases used across the company and third party technology will be used under licences which are managed by another part of the business.
When IP is managed in different silos across a business, it is very difficult for anyone to have a strategic overview and be able to consider questions such as: would the business be better off investing more money in research and development of new products, is there a market opportunity to license use of older brand assets (such as trade marks) in a new territory and grow market share instead of letting them lapse, could the value of a company be materially increased by plugging gaps in IP ownership for the products it has developed over the years etc?
Using IP to achieve strategic goals
If a business designs and adopts a proactive IP management strategy, it can unlock the full potential of its IP to help achieve key business objectives, for example:
- Building your brand – you can use registered trade marks and design rights together with strategic advertising and collaborations with third parties to build a reputation around your brand (for example, high fashion and luxury, practical applications of technology, merchandise aimed at a particular demographic) and then defend it against by using your IP rights as necessary.
- Protecting your assets – having a strong portfolio of IP rights and enforcing these strategically against copycats and other bad faith actors will avoid your IP being exploited against your will and also develop a reputation for strong IP protection and enforcement.
- Generating revenue – you can explore ways to monetise your IP, such as licensing use of a technology tool you have developed or collecting royalties for authorised use of copyright materials.
- Increasing your market share – for example by using your brand in new jurisdictions, media or sectors.
- Maximising the value of your business – by identifying and remediating gaps in IP ownership (for example by obtaining confirmatory transfers of ownership in software developed by former consultants), the value of your organisation will not be diminished due to the risk of an IP infringement claim against you.
How can you maximise the benefit of your IP?
The first step is to fully understand the IP you use and what else you might need for your future operations. Once you have an inventory of your IP assets and how they are used, you can develop a holistic strategy to fully utilise them in the pursuit of your strategic goals.
This is why we offer a comprehensive IP audit service. We will work with you to identify all of the IP rights used in your business, including those you own and those licensed from third parties, as well as any potential gaps in ownership or permissions which need to be addressed. We will also assess your current IP management position and review any related governance documents and template contracts used by the business. We can also provide training to ensure the relevant business stakeholders grasp the IP concepts which are relevant to their work.
The IP audit is an important first step on a journey to optimised IP management across your business. Once the IP audit is complete, we can help you develop an IP management strategy which will include ways in which your use of IP could help you achieve your strategic business objectives and set out the steps required to release this strategy.
How 3CS can help
Our team of commercial and corporate solicitors have expertise advising on commercial IP law issues. We provide a wide range of services from simple IP registration and advice on what IP you need for your business operations, to IP licensing and transfers of ownership, to more complex projects involving identification of IP risks and remediation of related legal documentation in relation to corporate transactions including M&A and group reorganisations. We can also help with IP disputes.
If you need any assistance which might relate to IP, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
