Do you have an effective Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy?

Whether you are developing a new IP strategy from scratch or reviewing an existing one, it is essential to consider the following points to ensure its effectiveness:

1. Align with Your Business Strategy: Your IP strategy should align with and support your overall business model. It is important to determine who owns the IP strategy and how often it is reviewed. In a technology company, the CTO (or CSO) is typically the best person to oversee this, given their understanding of the company strategy and their relationship with the innovators. Constant review may be necessary in rapidly changing fields, whereas an annual review might suffice in other fields. Regularly involving different stakeholders helps keep the strategy up-to-date and in line with the changing business environment.
2. Leverage IP for Market Dominance: Consider how to use your IP to establish a dominant market position. Keep an eye on your competitors' activities and IP strategies, e.g. by monitoring their patent and trade mark filings. Proactive licensing is generally more advantageous than suing for infringement. If you plan to license your IP, engage an experienced IP solicitor as soon as possible. Our in-house solicitor, Jo Eales, can assist with all legal matters. It may be possible to negotiate upfront fees, royalties, and coverage of IP costs and take advantage of tax reduction schemes like the patent box, which lowers the attributable corporation tax rate to 10% (in the UK, this is based on granted UK patents). Understanding market trends and competitor IP strategies may enhance your ability to leverage your IP and improve your market position.
3. Secure and Manage Your IP: Ensure you capture and protect your IP, e.g., patent, trade mark, design filings or trade secrets, to prevent it from leaving your organisation. Empower your innovators to participate in the IP process. Ensure they know who to approach with their ideas and incentivise their engagement. Provide sufficient IP training so they can recognise a valuable item, such as an invention. What may seem obvious to them, as the technology expert, could be considered novel and inventive by a patent office. Include IP clauses in all employment contracts. Maintain a comprehensive database of all IP rights, detailing who created them, when, the problems they solved, and how they were solved.

If you would like to obtain more information or discuss any of these points further, please contact us at mail@stratagemipm.co.uk. In particular, Stratagem can assist you in obtaining granted IP rights, reviewing your IP and licensing strategies, drafting IP licenses, advising on licensing negotiations, and providing IP training.