Putting IP at the Heart of Your Business Plan
European Patent Office, Munich Photo Wikipedia Jane Lambert Many new businesses are started at this time of the year. Unless it is a tech start-up little thought is likely to be given to intellectual property ( "IP" ) by entrepreneurs and small business owners when drawing up their business plans. That is a mistake because the competitive advantages earned from designing good looking new products, innovation or establishing a reputation for good service can be entrenched by law. It is a particularly British phenomenon fostered partly by lack of awareness of IP law by many business owners and their professional advisers and partly because IP rights were until recently very expensive to enforce. Their competitors in continental Europe, Asia and North America are much more likely to incorporate IP into their business planning. Develop an IP Strategy First One of the reasons why British business owners and their advisers are wary of IP is that a