How to make the most of your Intellectual Property Assets 26 October 2012 The creation, maintenance, defence and enforcement of intellectual property rights is a costly business, so the investment has to generate a return. That can only be achieved by full exploitation. Few companies have the luxury (or liability) of a portfolio of rights that extend well beyond what they can expect to exploit themselves, a brief case study of CellFactors plc is however a good example of what can be achieved. All companies should consider whether they have assets that could be put to work on behalf of the company. To capitalise on the value of such assets there must be a process in place to capture, record, and consider for exploitation every technological development that is generated. To produce a return on investment in intellectual property assets, a company should take the following steps: Identify and evaluate the company assets. Work out how they can be used . Assess the freedom to commercialise without a threat of infringement and possibility of an injunction preventing sales. Make a financial plan to manage the assets. Fully exploit non-core assets. Enhance product development by in-licensing third party intellectual property . What are the Company Assets? Core assets are those that protect (directly and indirectly) the products and processes being developed by the company at the moment. Areas of potential future interest, however remote, should be distinguished from technologies or aspects of the core technology that will never be developed in-house