L26 Overall IP Strategy

Licensing strategy needs to be part of an overall IP strategy within a firm.

1) The first step in forming an IP strategy is to assess what IP a firm possesses.
  • Patents, Trade Marks, Designs, Copyright, Know How, Other IPRs

    Some companies conduct more general "Intellectual Capital" reviews but here we are concerned with IP which might be included in a licensing agreement.

2) This list of IP should then be matched against the firm's current business needs to identify :

  • what is essential to the business and requires maintenance and protection
  • what is no longer needed by the firm but may be needed by others
  • what is no longer needed by anyone and can be disposed of (eg to save patent renewal fees)

3) The firm's current resources and future resource needs should be reviewed to identify:

  • how licensing in might be used to fill resource gaps
  • how licensing out might be used to strengthen resources where network effects exist
  • how licensing out could extract more value from underutuilised or unused resources

Licensing strategy is not just a matter of licensing out unwanted technology but of using licensing to assist efficient management of a firm's resources