All companies have intangible assets. Often the intangible assets uncover the greatest value of a company. The intangible assets account for majority of the company’s value, and often even more than that. If you use them right, they can provide increased profitability in your company. It is important that you take care of your intangible assets, and you may need to protect some or all of them.
What are Intangible Assets?
An intangible asset is an asset in your company that you can’t physically touch. An intangible asset can, for example, be the name of your company, your branding or even your business model. You protect intangible assets, such as business models, contracts and customer databases, by ensuring that no unauthorized personnel get access to the information.
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The assets acquired by investments of money are often tangible and therefore easily identified and readily protected. However, the assets created by investments of time are often intangible. Therefore, these assets are frequently undervalued and not fully protected. You should have a strategy for how to protect and manage all your intangible assets. Such a strategy is called an IP strategy, or intellectual property strategy.
Identifying Intangible Assets of a Company
In order to protect these intangible assets, they must first be identified. Your intangible assets include the things that are special about you and help to create business. These assets may be the quality of service you provide, the uniqueness of the product you sell, or the effectiveness of the results you create.
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Often, the intangible things that you invest in can be protected as intellectual property assets. Now that assets have been identified, you can move on to identifying which assets need to be protected.
Create a Protection Strategy
Once you have identified and prioritized your assets, you should develop a strategy and method to manage them. For example, which of them should you register, and which should you handle as a trade secret? A well-developed strategy for the management of the company’s intangible assets can be used to develop the business strategy. Accelerate the development of the company by identifying opportunities and shortcomings.
Advantages of Protecting a Companies Intangible Assets
There are several advantages of protecting your company’s assets:
- You get protection for your own investments.
- You block competitors.
- It is easier to attract financiers.
- Patent rights can be sold or licensed.
- The burden of proof in case of an infringement rests with the infringes.
Challenges in Protecting a Companies Intangible Assets
- The patents of the invention is made public.
- Can you recover the costs that the protection entails?
- Is the protection good enough?
- Do you have the energy to defend your rights?
Threat of Not Protecting a Companies Intangible Assets
Theft of your most valuable assets or loss of assets due a calamity can ruin an emerging business. Many businesses have aspects of more than one kind of intellectual property that add value to the company. Things that set you apart from your competition, including your reputation, your products, your processes, and your secrets, may be some of the most valuable assets that you own.
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Take steps to protect these intangible assets the same way you protect your physical property. Protection of your most important assets, whether tangible or not, is vital to the growth and health of your business.
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