Intellectual Property Review and Compliance

Intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks are often one of the most significant assets for a business, and the assistance of an attorney is often required to assist the company in preserving the benefits of these assets. Since the value and utility of any intellectual property asset is a function of the owner's ability to protect the asset and utilize it in the commercial environment free from the competing claims or infringing acts of third parties, legal review and compliance efforts in this area should focus upon the creation of the asset and ownership rights therein, the procedures used to perfect and maintain all legal rights in the asset, and the risk that the use of the assets might infringe upon the valid legal claims or the contractual rights of others.

The Intellectual Compliance Review can be used to as a method for identifying remedial actions which might be taken in order to increase the competitive benefits of the technology assets. Any IP infringement analysis conducted during the investigation should permit identification of the relative strengths and weaknesses of actual and potentially competitive technologies and businesses. With this type of information, the Intellectual Property owner can determine the need for further improvements and enhancements to its existing set of technology rights, either through internal development activity or by licensing or purchasing technology rights from others. The investigation can also be used to improve the procedures which the company uses to protect its intellectual property rights, perhaps by developing a corporate patent program or implementing a trade secret security program.

AGREEMENTS, DOCUMENTS & FORMS:

Intellectual Property Questionnaire
Intellectual Property Interview
Analysis of Intellectual Property Rights