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Summary of key concepts Nearly all companies have some form of IP that is valuable to their success and profits. By carrying out an IP audit you will obtain a systematic review of the IP created, owned, used or acquired by your company. There are essentially two types of IP audits: a preliminary audit and a comprehensive audit. You can request your FREE PRELIMINARY IP AUDIT by emailing
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with the name of your company, your contact details and a brief description of your company business. Remember that when undertaking an audit a number of issues must be addressed including identifying your IP and understanding the ownership and licensing arrangements you have in place. This will enable you to make an assessment of the type of IP education your employees require. IP Audits should be undertaken as a part of general IP management, a precursor to an acquisition, in preparation for a joint venture and in order to defend IP infringement. By carrying out an IP audit, you look closely at your business to: · identify where IP is used · find out who owns the IP rights · assess the value of the IP This won't always be easy. Remember that IP exists not only in patents, trademarks or designs rights you have registered. Valuable IP may be in trade secrets (remember that the Coca Cola receipe is protected as a trade secret) in software, written material, domain names and customer databases. An IP audit should raise and answer the following questions: As we said before an IP Audit is the first step of a correct IP Management (and subsequent exploitation): After an IP Audit is concluded, using the logbook (report) you created during an IP Audit, will help you to manage your IP. You can record in it all research, notes, designs and meetings related to your ideas in a dated, tamper-proof manner, with witness signatures where appropriate. This can serve as a powerful tool, helping you identify and protect your IP later on if you need to prove that it was you who created the relevant IP. What you should be asking your adviser: · How comprehensive does an audit really has to be? · What is the difference between owning IP and having an agreement to use it in the event of infringement? · Is word of mouth enough to constitute an agreement to use someone else's IP? · When conducting an audit what do I include? Do I include all my IP or only those items/ideas that can be assigned a true value? For example, what happens if I have an idea that has not been fully developed, do I still include it? · What happens if I do not include an item of IP in my audit? does this mean I lose the right to protect myself against infringement of this idea? · If I conduct a due diligence in relation to IP, do I include other business assets (as per a pre-sale inventory) or is this separate? · How do I use the results of an audit to market my product or generate interest in licensing my IP? Anassutzi & Co offers business strategy advice putting legal advice into context and offers high quality expertise for fixed fees www.anassutzi.com
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