How to make intellectual property work for you

Far too many of those whose work involves the development, maintenance, and use of intellectual property fail to recognize that “intellectual property” is not simply a legal matter that is best left to company lawyers. Intellectual Property-whether in the form of patents, copyrights, trademarks and service marks or trade secrets and confidential information-are business assets. Like any other business asset, an intellectual property right has real value only if it creates wealth for its owner. The wealth attained from intellectual property can be in the form of profit derived by a company´s own use of an intellectual property right or can be in the form of income derived by transferring all or a portion of an intellectual property right to a different enterprise. In some cases, a company can create wealth by its own use of an intellectual property asset and, at the same time, create additional wealth in the form of income derived by transferring limited use of the same intellectual property right to a different business enterprise. This paper provides a summary of the various ways that a business enterprise can derive benefit from its intellectual property and outlines the various ways in which intellectual property can be used to maintain a competitive edge and/or produce revenue through the transfer of rights to others