What is An Intellectual Property Audit and How Will It Help My Business?

An intellectual property audit (“IP Audit”) is a systematic review of the intellectual property assets owned, used or acquired by a business. An IP Audits purpose is to uncover under-utilized IP assets, identify any threats to a companys bottom line, and to enable business planners to devise informed strategies that will maintain and improve the companys market value.

Many times clients who conduct an IP Audit for the first time are surprised at how many IP assets their company has and how valuable they are to their business.   For example, Xerox, after conducting an IP Audit found that their internal training program was highly regarded by outsiders and ultimately made an entire business by selling training programs to other companies.

IP Audits can also identify business and legal risks by uncovering possible areas where products and services maybe be infringing on anothers intellectual property.  The cost of intellectual property litigation can be very expensive.  Many general liability insurance policies do not cover intellectual property infringement.  As a result and depending on the risk involved, many businesses choose to mitigate such risk with intellectual property insurance purchased through a reputable insurance agent.

In both of the above instances, an IP Audit is a useful tool in developing a business licensing strategy.  For information as to how an IP audit can help your business contact our office.