IP Strategy for Your Business

An intellectual property strategy for your business can bethought of as a game plan for developing, securing, and commercializing ideas, innovations, and other intangible assets. A strong IP strategy can help your business develop a sustainable competitive advantage and achieve above-market results.

In particular, the successful commercialization of IP assets(supported by an IP strategy) can help your business:

• Generate enhanced revenues or alternative revenue streams;
• Achieve premium product positioning and pricing;
• Capture and grow market share;
• Secure financing

Your IP strategy should be specifically tailored to the circumstances of your business, including considerations such as:

• The industry in which the business operates and its competitive landscape;
• The maturity and resources of the business;
• The business’ target market, including whether the market is international;
• The branding objectives of the business;
• The current and intended IP assets of the business (including the types of IP assets in play);

Our team at Gilbert’s LLP can help you through the entire process of developing and maintaining an IP strategy for your business or can help review and strengthen a discrete element of an existing strategy. Depending on the sophistication of the current IP practices of your business, the process of developing an IP strategy may include:

• Completing an audit of the intangible assets currently held by your business alongside an assessment of the IP assets held by your competitors and the market you compete in generally;
• Setting an objective or objectives for your strategy, which may be one of or a combination of defensive, offensive,financial, or strategic objectives; and
• Designing and implementing IP-specific operations into your day-to-day business activities that reflect and achieve the set objective(s).

Early-stage companies may have IP strategy needs that are distinct from those of more mature businesses. Gilbert’s LLP is proud to offer Slingshot, a dedicated legal services product for start-ups and scaling companies. You can learn more about Slingshot here.