Companies are making progress understanding the importance of IP valuation

In CPA Global’s latest State of the IP Industry Survey, 77% of corporate IP professionals said there is a greater awareness in their organizations of the importance of IP valuation than there was one year ago.

Haydn Evans, European head of IP Outsourcing for CPA Global summarized what needs to be done and how to do it:

"Effective portfolio management is central to achieving revenue generation … IP departments need to be aligning their IP strategy with their organization's broader business strategy throughout the IP lifecycle – from generation of ideas at the R&D stage to patent filings to the optimization and monetization of patent portfolios."

Evans said there were three steps IP departments should be undertaking on a regular basis:

Step One:  IP identification What IP do you have?

Step Two: IP Analysis Where is the value? This is what Fernando Torres of IPMetrics calls “triaging” the IP. How well is your IP aligned with your strategic business goals?  What is the relative strength of all patents within a portfolio? Is the paperwork current?  Are there ownership issues? What IP deserves the most time, attention and resources?  What IP should be abandoned or sold or just put out to pasture?

Step Three: IP Management and Optimization Where are resources required?  Are their tax benefits to relocating the IP?  Are the most valuable IP assets protected and serving the organization’s best use?

Valuators should review strategic and IP plans to see if they are in synch. The closer they are aligned, the more valuable is the IP to the organization.