MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS Getting a fix on your intangible assets
(or don’t get in a fix with your IP) Most businesses know that intellectual property (IP) is important but many are not aware that a comprehensive IP strategy can underpin just about every aspect of a company’s operations, says Jackie Maguire, CEO of Coller IP.
T
he world of intellectual property (IP) can seem daunting, especially when it comes to protecting inventions from being copied when trading internationally. Most businesses ensure they have some kind of IP protection,
but often that is as far as it goes. Used strategically, however, IP can underpin a business in a number of different ways. Deploying IP strategically boils down to three key issues, all
of which are both important and interdependent. Firstly, you need to understand what you have and the value of it. Secondly, you need to protect it. And finally, you need to consider how to enhance and exploit it. The first step is to undertake a thorough audit of all the
intangible assets in the organisation. Identification of all the valuable intangible assets in a company can be done internally or by calling in outside specialists. Such specialists will, after undertaking an audit, also perform a landscaping exercise in order to fully understand the intangible assets that are of value. This includes assessing the company’s unique position relative to existing or potential competitors, while at the same time identifying possible opportunities for exploiting any IP further. The specialist can then put a value on the assets assessed.
“ Firstly, you need to understand what you have and the value of it. Secondly, you need to protect it. And finally, you need to consider how to enhance and exploit it.” Next, a company needs to ensure that protection for these
assets is as watertight as possible. Having the right patents and trademarks in place is, of course, important. Filing patents, and perhaps registering trademarks and designs is certainly part of this. But a company’s value is contained in its wider
118 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 76 July 2012
intangible assets. This includes so-called ‘know-how’ as well as branding, skills, policies and processes. Written materials, customer contact lists and bespoke materials can all form part of your intangible assets. If these assets are not protected (or not protected thoroughly enough, for example in each significant country where it may be at risk) there is a real possibility that an organisation could have not just its trading and product names stolen but also its ideas and inventions. Other areas such as employee contracts also need to be considered. Are they written in such a way that they prevent their employees taking ideas and information to a competitor?
Protecting innovative developments Obtaining protection through a granted patent is just one way
to protect inventions and ideas. Having patents for innovative developments and your inventions gives you rights to stop others from making, selling, licensing, distributing or otherwise profiting from your invention for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of that invention. When it comes to patents, novelty is key and so it is important
to know if someone else has also developed something close to your invention, which would prevent it from being claimed as novel. Before starting your patent application, you should therefore undertake a global patent search. It can be quite complex to submit a patent that stands a good chance of being granted, and novelty is one aspect that needs to be considered. Organisations sometimes forget the need to ensure that
nothing is publicly disclosed before full protection is in place. There are many examples where companies have inadvertently made a public disclosure – at a conference, in a research paper or article, or perhaps in standards meetings. From that point onwards, if a patent application has not been filed, then it may not be deemed new or inventive, and it will be difficult to get a commercially valuable patent for it. In such a case, a business runs the risk of giving away its ideas or inventions for free. Companies should not forget the important role that
trademarks, registered designs, database rights, copyright and trade secrets can also play in protecting innovative developments, branding and new business models.
Going global If an organisation is trading, or planning to trade, internationally,
the issue of protecting intellectual assets across the globe can be quite intricate, particularly in this digital age, where access to information is so easily available. Wherever possible a company should register its IP rights in its key geographical markets. Each country has different processes and methods, and the
pitfalls in obtaining IP in each country also vary. For companies trading across several countries, protection of intellectual
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