Why bother? Because IP is your other bottom line.

Every business has IP that impacts the value of the company and its revenue stream. For some businesses, it may be the only asset they have. Even if it it's not your principal asset, things like the know-how of employees, the reputation associated with a brand name, a patent covering a business method, and the domain names to access a web site are all part of the intellectual property that are worthy of consideration when the business is being sold.

Many intellectual property rights can be easily destroyed or compromised. For example, a poorly drafted trademark license or failure to enforce trademark rights may result in an abandonment of the trademark. A premature disclosure of an invention by the marketing department may forfeit the ability to obtain worldwide patent protection. Also, it is all too common for a company not to own the copyright in its own logo because it failed to pay attention to the issue over authorship.

Because the transmission of information today knows no geographic boundaries, consideration of intellectual property is truly global. One disgruntled employee, using a simple keystroke on a computer, can forfeit a company’s worldwide patent rights, leak a trade secret, and perhaps sabotage the sale of a business. So plan ahead and find a team of professionals who can and will protect your assets against all the circumstances that you don’t ever want to think about, much less face alone.