Clearview National March 2015 - Issue 160 | Page 88

businessnews Take care of your intellectual property before your competitors do Innovation is driving advancement in every facet of our lives, but how do those at the cutting edge of innovation ensure they benefit fully from their efforts? »»Technology lawyer Andrew Brennan, from leading commercial law firm SGH Martineau explains, “Innovative businesses must put intellectual property (IP) considerations at the core of their strategic planning. This will help identify and secure opportunities afforded by IP earlier in the innovation cycle, keep tabs on competitors and ensure they are not infringing the rights of others. “Because IP covers such a broad range of assets, from unregistered rights like copyright, through to registered rights such as patents and registered designs, many organisations find the prospect of creating, implementing and following a comprehensive IP strategy daunting and often confusing; with many simply ignoring the situation and missing out on potentially huge benefits. What’s IP? “IP generally describes the results of creative or innovative efforts and like other property, can be owned, transferred, leased, given away or sold. Types of intellectual property include: • patents for new or improved products and processes • trade marks for business names, logos, strap lines and other aspects of a brand • designs for the shape, style or appearance of products • copyright - this can be in music, artistic or literary works including software code Protecting it “Almost every type of business will have some kind of IP, but before it can be protected, it must be identified. This can be done with an IP audit, which helps identify the key intellectual property owned and used by a business. “Along with assessing key brands and products, a good audit also looks at the less obvious potential IP assets including product certification and accreditations, regulation and standards compliance, client lists and even goodwill. 88 » M AR 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M “Once everything has been identified and recorded, the next step is to discover whether the business owns the IP, to ensure it has full rights to use and exploit it. For example, a business must also consider the IP potentially contained within agreements it enters into with employees, consultants and other thirdparties, assessing the chain of ownership and highlighting any risks. Developing an IP strategy “An IP strategy will help a business manage its current IP, but also ensure it assumes a more important role when planning for the future. The strategy will include: • highlighting areas of a business where IP is likely to be created • a legal audit to review IP created, owned used and acquired by the business • identifying potentially patentable inventions that have already been devised and draw out other ideas that may be protectable, whilst reviewing policies in place to identify, record and protect intellectual property • a competitor analysis to deliver an appraisal of the products and intellectual property of chosen competitors to identify infringement risks, competitive threats and new opportunities • the business must regularly update its strategy and initiate critical remedial measures to protect IP and deal with infringers “Developing an IP strategy is of little use if it is not implemented, maintained and adhered to, with employees aware the identification and protection of IP is the responsibility of everyone within the business. Evaluating competitors “Filing and prosecuting patents to protect the innovations within a business can be a powerful tool in securing competitive advantage. But early in the R&D process, a patent landscape can provide an initial competitive analysis of companies that are active in a particular field and identify areas in which to differentiate a product and competitive opportunities. “Once a product is sufficiently designed, patent landscaping can be used proactively to identify infringement risks and help the business make informed strategic decisions, like redesigning the product to avoid infringement, even licensing or acquiring the threatening patent. “A clear and comprehensive IP strategy will help organisations avoid those ‘if only’ moments when a competitors strikingly similar product or service proves hugely successful and generates vast worldwide revenues – for them.”