My sister is a doctor. She often refers to various body parts by their medical name and is always astounded when I don’t know which muscle/ligament/bone she is referring to. My retort? “Well you don’t know anything about IP!” Her response? “But you have a body. I don’t have any IP”.

Doesn’t she? The moment she has put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, brush to canvas at any point in her life she has created Intellectual Property. Copyright specifically in this example. Copyright, as an unregistered automatic right, means we have all created vast amounts of IP in our lifetimes. Every single person worldwide with the means and skills has created their own IP unwittingly.

So my sister, doctor and IP owner, may have a vast library of Copyright she knows nothing about but the real statement she should be making is “I don’t have any IP of value”. Value is the crucial word here and is often the great unknown. At this very point in time and history, my sister’s vast library of IP has very little value. (Arguably no value whatsoever, but she was a fairly accomplished artist in her school days and I imagine if she had ever wanted to she could have sold a piece or two for some pocket money.) But the pertinent point is “at this very point in time”. Whilst doctors aren’t always known for their fame and celebrity, who is to say that she may not gain a huge following of fans should she ever save the life of, say, the Queen at some future catastrophe in time. At this point, the value of any IP she owns may significantly increase as one of the crucial factors of value is demand. As I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that the true value of IP is whatever the buyer is willing to pay for it. So, when the Queen is safely tucked up in bed following her near death experience following the heroic actions of my courageous sister, the demand for her illegible (she is a doctor after all) medical notes, prescriptions and revision files may sky-rocket.

Whilst she may suddenly be generating value from what previously seemed to have no value at all, so might others. Forgeries may start to appear – people passing off notes as hers. People may even start to disbelieve her own material is genuine. How would she prove what was real and what was counterfeit? How would she make sure her rights and subsequent returns were protected? Could she even do anything about it at that point?

Now I think it’s fair to assume that whilst she does have IP, my sister may never need to worry about any of this – least of all because she is an Obstetrician. (The Queen may need a new hero.) But also because she has no intention of ever generating value. Her KPIs are the number of healthy mums following the successful delivery of their babies and not revenue-generating activities. But as business owners, creating value from your business is your highest priority. But so many businesses are so busy being reactive that they are not doing anything proactively to protect what could, in the future, be of significance.

Copyright is just one automatic right that is so often overlooked and can be applied to many different areas of a business. But what about other rights? Patents are the most commonly known form of intellectual property and many businesses are quick to understand when they do or don’t have something potentially patentable. But what about other forms of IP that could protect the unpatentable subject matter or other equally important areas of your business? From trademarks and designs (including unregistered rights) to trade secrets, domains and even database and semiconductor topography rights, Intellectual Property spans so many different areas of a business. At the very least, you have a company name, right? And a website? And a client list? Knowing what you have, understanding whether it is, or could be, of value and mitigating risks accordingly is crucial to gain a competitive edge as you grow.

This is why conducting an IP Audit can be paramount to understanding your intellectual asset inventory and is the first step towards creating and implementing  a proactive IP Strategy.

IP, in all its many forms, is a crucial asset to every single business. But you don’t have any IP anyway, right? So this post certainly doesn’t apply to you.