Strategic Intellectual Property Planning
For the strategic protection of a company’s intellectual property, it is important to understand the company’s short-term and long-range business objectives. This includes information about:
- The history of the company and its IP development
- How the company intends to grow - organically? Merger or sale? Private or public investment?
- What IP is being developed or anticipated over the next five years
- Whether the IP will be developed by employees, independent contractors, partners, co-ventures or others
- Whether the IP will be developed domestically or off-shore
- Whether the core of the IP must be kept confidential
- How the company intends to monetize its IP and through what business models
We work to understand the full business context in order to design and implement a strategic IP plan―often involving a combination of patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark protections―to help the company achieve its short-term and long-term business objectives. When devising an IP strategy, context is everything!
In connection with such planning or as a separate endeavor, our attorneys can also assist in developing strategies and transactions for mortgaging IP assets or otherwise utilizing the assets to advantage in ways other than through licensing or sale. For example, attorneys in this area have successfully implemented transactions involving IP-backed financing (including royalty backed securities).
