Integration into the business model
This is the highest level of service we provide, returning the highest value for customers.
After having established the IP View, which provides information, and having put together the IP Policy, which contains action points and ensure compliance, the next step is to fully focus on integrating the technology, the Intellectual Property Rights and the business model of the customer.
This level of engagement will consist of defining, together with senior management, how the business wants to use its core intellectual property assets within the business model. As strategic counsellor, we will review the business model in detail, and assess how the intellectual assets and the IP rights in the business can be fully integrated into the business model.
This will allow senior management, including all major players (all “C” functions, product management, services, sales, finance, R&D, partners and alliances, legal) within the business to review the business model and the USP of the business, to ensure that its technology, through the tools of Intellectual Property Rights, is used to its full potential in creating shareholder value.
Most business models use certain IP assumptions. Those assumptions are sometimes explicit, but may well be unspoken or unspecified. They will, in any event, have serious implications on the business model. However, those assumptions are not necessarily checked against the details of most existing IP rights, or against new developments in the IP world.An essential part of this step in the process is to challenge existing assumptions around IP in the existing business model, and to see if a different approach to IPR’s can improve the business model.
Questioning issues such as “automatic” ownership, open source models, open business models, etc… will typically reveal a lot of hidden value, which can be unlocked through applying the knowledge gained through the IP View and the IP Policy.