There are four basic types of IP > patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets. Patents protect inventions of products, processes, software and methods of doing business. Trademarks are words, names, logos, symbols, shapes, colors, sounds or scents which are uniquely associated with a product or service. Copyright is the right to control copying of works of authorship such as literature, artwork, photography, web site content or source code. And trade secrets are any non-public information which has economic value to a business, such as production processes, order fulfillment methods, product recipes or formulas, customer lists or pricing structures.
Given this scope of legal protection, nearly every business has some form of IP. You would not run a business without knowing in great detail its capital assets and inventory. Yet many companies do not have a good system for cataloging and tracking their IP assets, and correlating these assets to the products and services of the company. Valuable patents and trademarks remain stuffed away in file cabinets.
Matching IP assets to products can be done with a database arranged according to a company's divisions or product lines, with links to corresponding IP documents, such as electronic copies of patents and trademark registrations. The sales of protected products are a logical starting point for the valuation and accounting of IP assets, and this information can also be accessed from an IP database, so that management can make informed decisions on filing and maintaining various property rights worldwide. In such a database, accessible on a company intranet, management personnel can view the IP information and make business decisions with this key information in mind.
Even fewer companies have an accurate assessment of their competitors' IP assets, or a "map" of the competitive landscape, which can be used to avoid infringement, and to identify unclaimed technology "territories". Sophisticated software programs are available which perform this type of analysis on patents and present the data graphically. Correct use of such systems requires legal interpretation of the scope and validity of IP rights, particularly with respect to patents.
Accurate knowledge of your own and other's IP rights is essential for any company which deals with proprietary products or processes. Although the task of constructing a database of proprietary and competitor IP is formidable, the benefits are real and immediate. It will assist to: 1) clearly identify where the company has distinct competitive advantages (as a result of the legal right to exclude competition), which may influence pricing and R&D decisions; 2) provide a starting point for valuation of IP as an asset class for accounting purposes; 3) identify and eliminate the cost of maintaining any obsolete IP, or identify underutilized IP which may be licensed or sold; 4) avoid costly infringement of others rights; and 5) provide a strategic roadmap for R&D and product development, and even an overall business strategy. Also, once such a database is constructed, it is relatively easy to maintain, and can be updated with automated search engines which retrieve electronic copies of patent, trademark and copyright documents from the Internet and enter them into the database.
The importance and value of IP demands a structured approach to its management. The days of the company's patents and trademarks being locked away in a lawyer's file cabinet are over. Manage your IP assets. They are your legal claims to the future economy.
Reprinted with permission by SBN magazine