Intellectual Property has become a critical asset of most companies, often representing a substantial percentage of its market value. With shareholders demanding a maximum return on investment, it is incumbent on management to determine the most valuable and effective use of its intellectual property. Dickstein Shapiro’s attorneys, with their multifaceted backgrounds in every area of IP practice, are uniquely situated to provide both the analysis, counseling, and execution required to achieve this result.
There are many potential uses of IP, both strategic and income-producing. While the most traditional are the preclusion of competition and protection of the companies product lines (or services), there are many additional uses which can mean as much, if not more, to the overall economic health of the company. For example, IP can be used as a source of income (licensing), as a way to expand markets (through strategic partnerships with others), as leverage in an acquisition, or to provide a cost advantage over competitors.
What we provide is experience and creativity. There are a multiplicity of strategies for maximizing the value of your IP. Which strategy is best suited to achieve your strategic goals is dependant on a host of factors. Providing the best solution means understanding your business, its position in the marketplace, the profitability of your product lines, the strategic threats to your business and your strategic vision for the future. Expertise in any one area of IP law, be it litigation, licensing or prosecution, will likely provide a narrow perspective which does not take all practical solutions into account. Our attorneys see the bigger picture. Their depth in each of the relevant IP disciplines and their practical experience creating strategic IP plans results in out-of-the-box thinking and creative, practical, and effective counseling.
In addition to creating a strategic plan for maximizing the value of your IP, we can help you identify new opportunities going forward. This could include creating new IP to help solidify your present position in the marketplace, fence in your competition, or expand your market. Using various patent mapping tools, we can identify new areas of opportunity where the competition has not developed significant IP. Such underdeveloped spaces often are areas where there can be significant business growth at high margins. By developing your own critical IP, you can compete in an area where your competitors face significant barriers to entry.
Once a plan is in place, we have the experience and knowledge required to assist you in carrying out the plan, whether it is filing new patent, trademark, and copyright applications, engaging in licensing programs, enforcement activities, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.