IPR & Technology Audits
For many businesses, their IPR and technology systems are their most important assets. However, given the many pressures with which businesses are faced, the identification and management of those assets are often given low priority. Inadequate identification, protection and contractual arrangements will have an impact on the value of the IPR and technology assets. This means that it is important for a business to review and put in place mechanisms to ensure that its IPR and technology systems are properly identified, protected and subject to appropriate commercial arrangements.
The need for proper identification and management of IPR and technology systems is particularly important where a business is seeking investors or selling its business (either via business sale or share sale). Potential investors or purchases will require comfort that the IPR and technology systems are properly owned or licensed by the business, that they protected (and registered if capable of registration) and subject to agreements that deliver the claimed value. Inadequate identification, protection and contractual arrangements will have an impact on the value of the IPR or technology systems and therefore, an impact on the purchase price or in extreme instances, cause the transaction or investment opportunity to fall away.
We have extensive experience of auditing IPR, both in the context of a transaction or as a best practice exercise, and from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers. Our services include:
identifying the IPR and technology systems in a business and how they are currently protected and the contractual arrangements to which they are subject;
identifying relevant risks;
recommeding steps to be undertaken to improving protection and, where appropriate, re-negotiate contractual arrangements; and
advising on and drafting necessary contracts including confidentiality agreements, assignment agreements, development agreements, licence agreements, distribution agreements and other agreements to commercialise IPR and technology.
