Your intellectual property (IP) is what you have created and can therefore claim as your own. However, doing so isn’t always so straightforward!
Protecting your original ideas and innovations so that others can’t claim and profit from them is paramount for any business, whether it be in MedTech, education, music, or something else entirely. And since your IP is so important, it deserves thorough and proactive management to aid in bettering your business.
This article explains what IP management is and why it’s important for all types of businesses. For personalised advice, contact our team at The Intellectual Property Works today.
What is IP Management?
IP management is the way a business handles their IP assets. This will look different from business to business depending on the type of IP they have, the industry they’re in, and their IP strategy. In fact, developing an IP strategy is a form of IP management in itself!
Essentially, IP management involves making informed decisions related to your IP, from protecting anything you’ve created and maximising potential profits to mitigating any potential risks that may be involved.
Why is IP Management Important?
Technology now allows people and businesses around the world to connect like never before. This can be a double-edged sword in that along with all the positives this can bring, it also means that the global market is becoming increasingly competitive. And in a competitive market, protecting what’s rightly yours can be much more difficult than it was 20 years ago.
Thankfully, IP management has been taking this into account from day one. You’ll find that IP management:
1. Ensures proactivity
Anticipating both challenges and opportunities is crucial when it comes to IP. Taking a proactive approach rather than handling situations reactively can make all the difference in taking advantage of opportunities and managing any crises that come up. Operating this way helps businesses to think about and look towards the future, which is crucial in an ever-changing world.
A proactive approach indicates a proactive mindset, where you actively seek out opportunities to invent and differentiate yourself, positioning yourself as a forward-thinker. Meanwhile, reacting to events as they happen gives you much less time to think about the way you react, which can be more impactful than you may think. Reactive handling tends to result in quickly-made decisions that may provide little to no benefit, and missed opportunities that you would have seen with your forward-thinking goggles on.
2. Helps to manage spend
If you go to the shops without a list, it can be a bit like letting a kid loose in a sweets shop. Anything and everything sounds good, so you pick it all up. Before you know it, you’ve blown the budget and your meal plan for the week looks like steak and potatoes every night. That may sound good at first, but you’ll be tired of it sooner than you think!
When it comes to IP, allocating your budget is crucial in maximising the value of your IP assets. IP management helps to control that spending so you don’t overspend in one area and underspend in another, leaving your IP looking frazzled at the checkout. Effective IP management takes the cost of filing for patents, registering for trademarks, legal fees, and more into account and ensures some is left for ongoing maintenance. With a sound plan for IP financial management, you can spend less time thinking about how many pounds you have left so you can focus on what’s most important— your creations.
3. Helps to manage risk
We’re all aware that risk is everywhere, and your IP isn’t exempt. A key aspect of robust IP management is identifying potential risks before they escalate so that your business’s innovations, reputation, and financial stability can stay intact.
By identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks, effective IP management can help to assess the impact and probability of different risks. Not all risks are created equally! For example, if Risk A is more likely than Risk B, it may seem tempting to focus on preventing Risk A from happening.
However, you have to consider all the factors within these risks. While RIsk A may be more likely, it may also be much less impactful than Risk B, and therefore Risk B may be more of a burden to your business if it were to eventuate. By focusing on the risk(s) that pose the biggest threat to your IP, you can manage risk most effectively.
Manage Your IP Today
At The Intellectual Property Works, we’ve been managing IP like no one’s business for 25 years. As the IP consulting experts, we offer not only IP management but also IP audits, strategies, and even workshops to help you manage your IP most effectively. When you’re looking for high-quality IP management backed by expertise and experience, we’re the team to call!
