IP for business advisors
The professionals who advise an early stage business can play a crucial role in ensuring that its intellectual property (IP) is appropriately protected and that IP risks are identified and managed before they cause serious long-term damage.
Many business advisors, however, have little experience of intellectual property. They may be unsure of how to identify IP issues, or of who to contact for help. Some are concerned about the cost of seeking IP advice, or about safeguarding their clients' confidentiality.
How we can help
If you're a business advisor and you recognise these concerns, we'd be happy to help. We have experience of working together with local advisors such as those involved in Business Links and similar schemes.
Initially we can provide a free hour's seminar for you and your colleagues, focusing on the basics of intellectual property and on recognising when it's relevant to a new business.
Please also feel free to contact us at any time if you think there may be IP issues for one of your clients. We make no charge for an initial phone consultation, to give basic "in principle" advice about the types of IP a client may have and the options for protecting it. To reassure you, anything you tell us is kept completely confidential as part of our code of professional conduct, even if you don't take the matter any further.
IP and the business plan
The most important thing is that if your client has intellectual property, or faces threats from competitors' intellectual property, then this should be taken into account in the business plan right from the start. IP is a business asset; protecting and exploiting it properly can vastly increase the strength and value of a business and can help provide for its growth and even for its owners' exit strategies. Conversely, being unaware of other people's IP can lead to costly commercial and legal mistakes.
Spotting the IP issues
Situations that ought to sound alarm bells include when your client's work involves creating things for other people; when your client has had something created for him by someone else; when your client is launching a new company or product or brand; and when your client is planning to collaborate with third parties on a project. Please do call us if you find yourself advising on these types of situation.
Remember that IP can include not just patents but also trade marks, designs, copyright and confidential information. Intellectual property is, essentially, ideas and knowledge. Most businesses have at least some of those.
