The Importance of IPR in the Business World

“The future of the nation depends in no small part on the efficiency of industry, and the efficiency of industry depends in no small part on the protection of intellectual property." 

                                    -Judge Richard Posner[1]

In today's economy, companies must innovate if they wish to succeed and endure. The emerging scenario in India appears to be one of domination of industries such as information technology, communication and other knowledge based industries. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that attention be paid to IPR related agreements and transactions. Let us understand the Importance of IPR in the businesses world:

 Intellectual Property makes your business distinguishable and
sets it apart from competitors. One can also obtain revenue by selling it or in the form of royalties by licensing or franchising their IPs. Before licensing an IP, a due diligence analysis of the IP and other similar IPs already in the market is essential. Major corporations are investing lot of time and money on strategies to exploit their IPs to the fullest. Especially when the IP must be protected at the international level or it is being licensed to parties in another state, the relevant IP laws of such state have to be studied in detail.

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Importance of IPR

Many enterprises (especially small scale ones) underestimate IPs because they are intangible assets and it is many times impossible to compute their “true value” to the enterprise. Trademarks, logos and business names carry the goodwill of a company with them, whereas patents and designs directly affect production and distribution of goods.

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The aspects of business which can be protected include the business name, logo, trademarks, designs, inventions, confidential information, trade secrets or other creative works that differentiate your business.

The registration and legal fee in protection of IPR is commonly viewed as a cost center. In IPR, such expenditures should never be considered “cost centers” because a well protected IP can save or earn a company huge sums. IP firms also advise clients on how to expand the scope of their IPs by drafting patent claims in order to cover uses which have not yet been anticipated.

Apart from protecting IPR it is also important to check its originality prior to, or at the early stages of, its use. Imagine building a brand or reputation for a business and then being prohibited from using it because it was not original. So, if you have a business, I hope you have taken all precautions to protect your Intellectual Property.

-Vikrant Shetty

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[1] Judge Richard Posner on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Rockwell Graphic Systems, Inc. v. DEV Industries, 925 F.2d 174 (1991)



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