Regulatory burden and cost are barriers to IP exploitation

Seventy-nine per cent of companies in the UK, Germany and France surveyed by law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse said they thought intellectual property (IP) was even more important than usual in a downturn and 68% said it was vital to the growth of their business.

Most respondents ­ 78% ­ also admitted they did not manage these potentially lucrative assets properly. Just under half the companies surveyed had audited their IP, while only 52% “have an up-to-date plan” for these assets, which include copyrighted concepts or products designs, patents and trademarks.

Companies frequently hold an arsenal of IP assets, but a fear of regulatory complexity and lack of planning and expertise in this field has held them back from capitalising on them ­ one potential route to new revenue streams at a time of great pressure on income.

“By increasing understanding of IP within the business, companies can explore the full range of techniques available to maximise the potential of these assets, such as licensing, franchising, merchandising, co-marketing and joint venturing,” says Field Fisher Waterhouse corporate partner Neil Foster.

He adds that companies were more comfortable with traditional approaches to expansion such as subsidiaries and joint ventures at the expense of leveraging IP in other ways that often cost less and carry less risk.

Protectionism as a means to safeguard existing revenue streams from IP rather than developing new ones hampers exploitation of these less tangible assets, the firm concludes.