Recognising the IP:
The story of a startup begins with that Bright Idea that popped up aka Archimedes way. Idea needs to be reduced to practice. The culmination of the idea into a working model marks the Journey of a Startup. The very act of an idea reducing to a practical solution also marks the creation of Intellectual Property or IP for short. If the idea that originated is worth replicating, then the IP that has been created is worth protecting. To explain the importance of protection, let us classify Startups into
Technology oriented: the start-ups which predominantly create new technologies; and
Non-Technology oriented: the start-ups that adopt business models to promote and/or sell a product/s and/or service/s. Some of the in house IP, predominant to a described category of Start-UP is summarised in the table shown below:
Non-Technology Start-Up | Technology Start-Up |
Trade secret (resident in the business method) | Patents |
Brand name (alternatively called Tradename /Trademark) | Designs |
Copyright | Copyrights |
| Trademark |
Each of the in house IP mentioned above have varied extent of protection, valuation and methods of accounting. Hence, it is important to recognize these and protect them suitably. Building of an IP portfolio along with a robust business model is an efficient strategy such as Acquisitions, Mergers, Buyouts, IPOs and Funding. The strategies for acquisition, management and enforcement of various in house IP are specific to IP. One key aspect of building an IP portfolio is to conduct periodic IP Audits. An IP Audit recognises the in-house IP, suggests the strength/weakness of IP identified and outlays a strategy for protection and enforcement of recognised IP. Further, the Audit allows periodic review of existing IP to enable re-orientation of existing strategy.
Next.......IP Audit
