6 December 2024 · Articles, Trade secrets
Four key employees leave the business to join a competitor taking valuable information with them. A decade later the largest medical devices company approaches the other company to buy them. Only then did Insulet act with a trade secrets misappropriation case and temporary injunction. The net result was $452m in damages. The jury awarded Insulet […]
Read More3 December 2024 · Articles, IP Audit, M&A Due Diligence, Trade secrets
The new code was a game changer. Thank fully before we released it, we did an IP Audit to identify the best way to protect it. We improved protection with intellectual property rights, especially trade secrets, copyright and designs. We clarified how other products supported it and likewise reaffirmed how they were protected. We […]
Read More29 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, IP Strategy, Trademark
Some Re-Brands Are Logical To Existing Customers ‘It does what it says on the packet’ Others are ambitious even ‘game changing’, especially when seeking to attract a new target customer. Jeremy Clarkson once described the Jaguar (or jaGuar) driver as flat cap man, and this may well once have been the case. Attention and eyeballs […]
Read More28 November 2024 · Articles, Confidential Information, Cyber Security, Innovation, Investors, IP Audit, IP Value, Knowledge Transfer, Trade secrets
The most valuable IP in your business is highly likely to be your trade secrets. A stark reality faces you and that is if you are not actively managing these assets they are probably flooding out of your business with the loss of the associated value and competitive edge. Trade secrets are the fastest growing […]
Read More28 November 2024 · Articles, IP Audit, IP Value, M&A Due Diligence
Your most valuable business assets are those you cannot see or touch. If you cannot see them how do you know you are protecting all of your value? Business has changed immensely in the quiet economic revolution. Your business is now mainly people, process, platform and code. How can you be sure you are managing […]
Read More25 November 2024 · Articles, Investors, IP Audit, IP Strategy, IP Value
A Moat Round Your IP Why else would they invest? They need to know that their investment is safe. That the marauding hoards, your competitors even!, cannot get access to your valuable ideas, results, concepts, contents, brands, and yes secrets. You have got this -A list of all your IP, with clear representation of ownership? […]
Read More20 November 2024 · Articles, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Investors, IP Audit, IP Strategy, IP Value, M&A Due Diligence
Easy IP Audit. The Better Way What Got You Here Will Not Get You There Your business evolves, the landscape evolves, the law evolves, your strategy evolves and the economic climate changes. Is Your IP Fit For Purpose? As your business evolves so your IP needs to evolve as well. Investors assess IP protection, ownership, […]
Read More19 November 2024 · Articles, Confidential Information, Innovation, IP Culture, IP Education, Trade secrets
Tesla Sues A Major Supplier For Patenting Their Invention. Thank you to Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Wurzer Director IP Management Training for curating this excellent podcast on the importance of trade secrets and how it fits into strategy. You cannot innovate in isolation and working with partners and suppliers is crucial in this, but how […]
Read More14 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, Brokerage, Domain Name, Investors, Monetisation
Dharmesh Shah CTO of HubSpot spotted an opportunity, buying domain name Chat.com $15.5m! Less than a year later he sold it again for $20m! The buyer none less than Open AI CEO Sam Altman! Shah got a pretty healthy return on his investment, even accepting 50% of the sale price as Open AI stock! This […]
Read More13 November 2024 · Articles, Innovation, Investors, IP Culture, IP Education, IP Strategy, IP Value, Patents, Trade secrets
I once worked with a small business where they had spent $1m on patent filings for a particular invention. The business pivoted away from the invention but it was assumed that there would be 5X return on cost spend through sale or licensing of the patents. Sadly there was no value in the patents. Another […]
Read More11 November 2024 · Articles
If this can happen to Mattel it can happen to you and your business. Reputational damage in this case but it could equally be a leak of highly sensitive and confidential information causing share price damage. Mattel sell dolls to children aged 4+ so they are highly embarrassed this morning that the website on the […]
Read More8 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, Influencer, IP Education, IP Strategy, IP Value, Social Media, Trademark
Why Portakabin is Entitled to Fight its Trademark Battle I was very pleased to be quoted in Friday’s The Times. A brilliant article by Harry Wallop demonstrating the importance of defending brand value and reputation using registered trademark rights. The importance of careful selection and management, also surveillance, throughout the life of the brand to […]
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