Sometimes circumstances outside of our control lead to business closure, the unwinding of strategic partnerships, sudden cost reductions, or all of the above. In the various situations where a company is facing divestment, it tends to be expedient to “throw the babies out with the bathwater” with little regard for the intellectual property. This is a potentially massive error. Aside from possibly losing out on more value, overlooking IP in a divestment situation can lead to myriad forms of litigation - from shareholders, licensees and licensors, vendors and suppliers, and the very business organizations or partnerships you’re shedding. It’s safe to say that intellectual property management plays as significant a part at IP termination as during IP inception, growth and maturity. Consider the following in order to mitigate some of these concerns.

We know that continued growth and profitability are driven by how competitive a business is in its industry. Competitiveness is fueled by innovation. New or improved products, features, accessibility and affordability attract and retain customers. For this reason, many industry-leading businesses are hiring for innovation, forming dedicated teams to address and anticipate customer needs.

Unless you’re cultivating a true innovation culture that emphasizes and encourages forward thinking and new ideas, you won’t be able to reap the benefits: positioning your business as an industry leader and attracting & retaining customers ahead of your competitors. In other words, hiring for innovation is good for your bottom line. Here are the first few steps and considerations to make when building that team:

As with any facet of business — administration, sales, product development — data analysis and reporting is going to be key to the intellectual property management process. Depending on your process, your intellectual property can go through several stages of development, deployment, and maintenance. Considering the sheer volume of that undertaking, it’s no wonder that some organizations lose track of their IP’s life stage. Are you one of them?

Licensing intellectual property assets can be a powerful opportunity for both licensees and licensors to maximize their portfolios. For organizations with mature and dynamic intellectual property portfolios, becoming a licensor creates additional revenue streams. For growing organizations, licensing intellectual property from others allows fast product launch.

Developing a clear innovation strategy for your organization is critical to driving sustained and successful innovation. An innovation strategy creates alignment on innovation efforts across different teams and functions, any number of whom might otherwise perceive innovation goals differently. Without this alignment, the organization risks wasting resources and investment on innovations which lack direction, don’t fit into the product portfolio, and won’t produce a return. This article will discuss tips for creating a clear innovation strategy for your organization.

From startup to maturity, intellectual property can be a valuable asset to leverage at any stage in your company’s life. Leveraging intellectual property assets successfully can help your organization build and sustain effective product strategies over the long-term. This article will look at the ways your organization can leverage intellectual property at each stage of its journey:

Innovation is critical for organizations to continue to build and sustain competitive advantage over the long term. Many of the world’s most innovative companies have unlocked the secret to continuous innovation: their employees. However, motivating employees to take part in innovation can sometimes be a challenge. This article will cover six tactics your organization can implement to motivate employees to innovate:

Effective intellectual property management hinges on the ability to collect, analyze, and use data to make informed decisions. We’ve already discussed how data is the key to successful intellectual property management; in this article we’ll outline which metrics your organization should be tracking throughout the intellectual property process.

An organization’s intellectual property portfolio is an important asset that can be used strategically to drive value through revenue generating and cost saving opportunities. Conversely, when intellectual property is not managed effectively, those opportunities are lost and resources are wasted. This post will cover five key consequences of mismanaging intellectual property and how to avoid them.