Would you spend your company's time, money and resources on constructing a building before designing a blueprint? No. Treat your Intellectual Property (IP) the same way. At Altus IP, we work with you to design an IP Blueprint for your business. We start by mapping out a strong foundation consisting of various types of Intellectual Property protection. Then, we analyze how we can interconnect these layers of intellectual property to provide maximum protection for some of your company's most valuable assets, the highest levels in your blueprint. Make sure your IP is built from the ground up.
Intellectual Property is a valuable asset to your business. Like any asset however, intellectual property is only valuable if utilized strategically.
How would a Blueprint increase the value of my IP?
Suppose a company creates the most efficient device ever seen for manufacturing a widget. Its potential economic value to the company is unrivaled. However, the company leaves the device sitting on a shelf or does not integrate it into its assembly line correctly. As it sits, it is adding no value to the company. Even worse, it is a negative asset as time and company resources were expended to create a device that is creating no return.
Your Intellectual Property works the same way. If you spend time and resources creating Intellectual Property, you need to make sure you are not "leaving it on the shelf" or "integrating it incorrectly" into your business. You need to take the necessary steps to reap its potential value and have it work with, not against, your other intellectual property assets.
What do you mean by using Intellectual Property Strategically?
The four types of intellectual property overlap in the information they protect (for instance, the recipe for Coca-Cola could have been patented or protected as a trade secret: it was protected as a trade secret). Therefore, how to protect your intellectual property is a strategic decision. The Intellectual Property Blueprint creates this strategy by addressing: (1) what information you can protect, (2) how that information can be protected (patent, trade secret, copyright or trademark), (3) pros and cons for potential types of protection and (4) how this protection will affect your overall intellectual property strategy and business goals.
What Should You Expect from Our IP Blueprint Design services?
In designing your intellectual property blueprint, we start by conducting an in-depth meeting with you to learn about your business. Specifically, we discuss your businessÂ’s assets, practices, procedures and goals. Often, we visit your business and take a tour of your facilities to get first-hand knowledge of how your business operates (including both non-technical and technical departments).
We then analyze this information to determine your intellectual property protection options. We present these options to you in a report in which we further analyze these options and design an IP Blueprint for protecting your intellectual property strategically. The report includes a step-by-step action plan to assist you in implementing our recommendations and creating your intellectual property portfolio. After you have had time to review the IP Blueprint, we meet with you again to discuss our recommendations and answer any questions you may have.
Often times, our recommendations will include intellectual property registrations such as a patent or trademark. In such a case, we will recommend counsel well versed in drafting and filing similar registrations. We will work with your chosen counsel as they draft and file your registrations to ensure they are seeking protection aligned with your ultimate business objectives.
As you implement your IP Blueprint design, we provide continued support.
How does an IP Blueprint designed by Altus IP benefit your business?
A blueprint designed by Altus IP helps you maximize your return on your intellectual property investment in two ways: (1) by making sure your IP is legally protected; and (2) by aligning your intellectual property protection with your business and financial goals.
An intellectual property blueprint designed by Altus IP: strategic because it maximizes protection; practical because it minimizes costs.