Intellectual Property Advisory Service

Technology companies have an enormous opportunity to capitalize on the many intangible assets they create. These include intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as other assets including data, brand reputation, strategies, and customer and business relationships.

Many technology businesses place strategic emphasis on having freedom to operate in new markets. This freedom gives them a platform for rapid expansion and product commercialization. However, this requires a strong awareness of competitor patent filing, as well as an understanding of IP litigation risks to confirm the balance between freedom and expenditure.

At the same time, technologies companies have amassed huge portfolios as a results of significant investment in R&D. IP transactions has now become integral to portfolio management as a recognized way to unlock additional revenue for companies. 

In summary, IP assets drive a considerable amount of value for businesses, but are often not fully understood, managed or leveraged. How these IP assets are managed is critically important to a business’ ability to realise value from them. This requires a deep understanding of the IP portfolio, along with adequate approaches to IP protection, risk management and commercial exploitation.

Our Services

Deloitte IP Advisory assists clients globally throughout the IP life cycle, help them develop comprehensive IP strategies, implement effective IP processes, build and strengthen their IP portfolios, seek operational efficiencies and assess, value and monetize their IP asset.

We have a long history of helping clients to understand the commercial value of their IP and supporting them through strategic IP-centric transactions such as IP sales and acquisitions, licensing and technology transfers.

Our Main Services:

1. Competitive Benchmarking & IP Risk Assessment

A Competitive Benchmarking & IP Risk Assessment provides clients with a deep understanding of their competitive IP positioning, potential innovation opportunities, as well as any potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with their IP portfolio. We explore the IP related to the client’s technology areas to gain an insight into the IP position and behaviour of competitors; help client understand how they might leverage a strong IP position for competitive advantage and/or the threats they may face from competitors, their freedom to operate (FTO) position, and gain an insight into where ‘white spaces’ in the industry exists in order to guide their patent filing strategy.

2. IP Strategy & Operating Plan

An IP strategy is part of a broader corporate blueprint ensuring your IP portfolio is in line with your against cost and position yourself within the market against your competitors. Having a clear plan of action for your intangible assets ensures each asset serves a direct purpose to your business and steers effective decision making and planning.

3. IP Scouting & Acquisition

The IP Scouting & Acquisitions service is aimed at identifying and evaluating third-party IP to be licensed-in or purchased. The acquisition or licensing of IP which aligns with and strengthens your product strategy will help you develop or improve your competitive advantage. It may be that you have concerns about patent assertion from a third party and want to acquire patents to counter-assert. In other cases, it can help in remedying a gap in your existing IP portfolio. Our bespoke strategic patent acquisition service is tailored to your objectives and timescales. We have an unmatched track record to delivering results while addressing clients’ concerns, thanking to our decades of IP transaction knowledge and experience, highly skilled in-house analyst team and extensive deal network.

4. IP Portfolio Evaluation, Alignment & Optimisation

The Portfolio Evaluation, Alignment & Optimisation service helps you identify the important value of the assets you own and what assets you are maintaining which may no longer serve a strategic purpose. By identifying assets that are no longer core to your business, you are able to reduce overall maintenance costs while improving the quality of your portfolio. The goal is to assess the value of each asset within a portfolio typically from two angles:

• Align the portfolio to the business strategy by identifying assets that are core or of high strategic value to the business.
• Identify “surplus” pool for cost saving and monetisation opportunities.
  

5. IP Defense & Disputes

IP Advisory provides strategic and tactical support when a client is approached with an IP licensing demand, IP litigation threat or are already involved in a contentious action. For example, a competitor may demand a license fee for alleged past, current and/or future use of a patented technology. In exchange for the license fee, the company will secure freedom to operate with respect to such patents. IP Advisory provides objective data and an independent evaluation of the IP and financial risks you are facing. Clients are then better prepared to respond and decide whether to enter into a license and under what terms. IP Advisory provides a range of factual and objective arguments to support a negotiation strategy to be adopted as part of the client’s settlement discussions with a potential licensor. In situations that are already contentious, IP Advisory works alongside the disputes teams in Forensics to provide IP and technical subject matter expertise in support of defence advisory and expert witnessing engagements.

6. IP Value Assessment

An IP value assessment is an assessment of the range of possible outcomes related to a technology or IP licensing or acquisition opportunity. This includes qualifying potential risks, as well as quantifying costs and benefits. Both are based on different scenarios designed to support the client’s decision making in terms of whether to enter into a commercial arrangement and under what terms. The outcome is objective views on the value indicators, robustness and market attractiveness of the IP portfolio or technology. Typical steps would include:

• Scenario development
• Financial model
• Royalty rate setting
• Findings and recommendations

7. IP Sales, Licensing & Tech Transfers

Deloitte IP advisory supports you through the entire IP sales, licensing & tech transfer process. By offering a deep understanding of the value and market relevance of intellectual assets, we help you strategically identify key assets to sell, who key buyers may be, and then we help you execute the transaction. Our experienced team is highly skilled in drawing out key market and IP considerations to influence valuation and take a pragmatic approach to support negotiations to achieve the best commercial outcome.