5 common mistakes in IP
Your IP is too important not to be done properly, so what common mistakes are made when it comes to intellectual property?
- Having no IP Budget
An appropriate IP budget is the goal for any business, so did you know…
- IP spend can be a top 5 spend for small companies
- Hiding IP spend in Legal or R&D budgets leads to conflicts
- IP spend can and should be budgeted
- Having an IP budget is the first step to managing costs effectively
- Not aligning IP and Business
Have you considered reviewing your IP and identifying where intellectual property rights add value now and in the future?
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) such as patents, trade marks, registered designs and trade secrets are business tools to support business strategy. Aligning IP with your business strategy and focusing on the most appropriate IPRs can help benefit the business in the short and long term by managing IP spend. It can also help in prioritising what is most important against the ‘nice to haves’.
- Inappropriate spending on IP
Many businesses are guilty of inappropriate spending on IP; this is often a result of having no IP budget in place or not aligning the IP with the business strategy. Have you considered the following?
- Is your business spending on the wrong type of IP?
- Is your business spending too little or too much on IP?
- Is your business effectively managing increases in spending as much as decreases?
- Is your business maintaining IP that no longer contributes any value to the business?
- Having the wrong Advisers
Having the wrong advisers in place to support you and your business can often lead to your IP not being protected properly - so what key things should be considered when selecting or reviewing advisers?
- Your advisers should understand the business objectives and align the IP appropriately
- Your advisers should be selected on quality and technical expertise rather than purely on location and cost alone
- Your advisers should be able to easily explain how they add value to your business
- Having no Management Responsibility
Often in businesses, IP is not managed within a clearly defined IP role, but considered as something extra in day to day workloads, an add on if you like. Even when there are roles such as IP managers in businesses, they are often not one of the main business managers. It is important to have a clearly defined management responsibility for IP at top level as this will not only make managing IP in your business more cost effective, but also allow you to make IP savvy decisions when it comes to assessing the IP value in your business. Are there any changes you need to make in your business?
