Why is intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, ...) relevant for you?
Protective strategy
Intellectual property can obtain guarantees for the exclusive use of various technical elements such as industrial products, medicines, communication processes, technological gadgets,...
These guarantees allow particular to prevent and suppress various kinds of exploitation of intellectual property such as:
- Copies
- Counterfeit
- Theft or diversion of intellectual products
- Abusive uses
- Theft of names
Protection helps to ensure a place in a market, or to become leader if the subject matter includes determining characters in quality, cost of production or performance.
The risk of non-protection
Companies who recognise the value of their IP and dedicate time and resources to protecting their IP assets as part of their business strategy, can increase their competitiveness in a variety of ways and in certain cases can be propelled to a leading role within a particular industry.
Indecision and lack of positive protective action in the field of intellectual property can also produce the opposite undesirable business result. Ignoring the intellectual property inherent in your business opens up the possibility of competitors taking advantage of your technical innovations, business ideas, goodwill and reputation in the market.
Many infringers and counterfeiters will seek to quickly establish just how serious their victims are in protecting their rights. If a victim company is persistent and relentless in enforcing its rights, the chances are that a competitor, infringer or counterfeiter will decide to look for a softer target elsewhere. The possession of intellectual property rights and the threat of court action may be sufficient to deter infringers or place a company in an advantageous position in which to do a deal. If you have not taken steps to protect your firm's intellectual property then you may loose the opportunity to forge business alliances, your negotiating strategy may be weakened, the possibility of arranging profitable licensing deals may be considerably reduced and your ability to obtain capital or investment finance may be eroded.
Your Intellectual Property, whether it is a patent, a design or other form of IP, represents an investment from which you expect a return. Therefore, transforming an invention into a marketable product, so that it begins to generate revenue and profits, is a crucial stage in the innovation process.
IP has a potential value which is why one invests in it. The IP owner must then convert this potential into real reward. The value of IP depends on how well it is utilised. If you adopt a systematic approach for the effective commercialisation of your IP, it will ensure good returns on investment in those IP assets.
