As 2022 has already started for 4 months, some people can’t help but wonder that will they achieve anything significant in their life this year? Why has a recent couple of months gone passed in a blur with no glimpse of success in the future? However, the people should not lose hope as this is still only the beginning of 2022. There are still times to make a plan to get started and thrive in 2022. In this article, we will give out some advice for IP rights holders and IP lawyers to succeed in 2022.
Normally, at the beginning of a new year, the people will tend to have a new year resolution – things that they aim to achieve this year.
However, as a matter of fact, this resolution tends to end just a couple of days, or best, weeks after they are planned.
The planner will find all kinds of reasons and excuses to block them from achieving their goals.
Sometimes, these excuses are justifiable. Most of the time, they are just reasons.
Accordingly, when setting out a plan, any type of plan, it is most crucial that the planner has the courage to follow the plan to the end.
In the IP field, the planner can both be the IP rights holder and the IP lawyer.
However, unlike the normal goal of earning a huge amount of money this year, or losing some pounds, getting a promotion, etc., the goal of an IP lawyer and IP rights holder can be more exquisite.
Resolutions for IP rights holders
For IP rights holders, one should never be content about the current value that the IP assets might have given them.
Instead, they should always research the ways to maximize their profits from the IP assets and at the same time, protect their IP assets from third parties who will want to steal their efforts.
Assess, reassess the IP assets to comprehend the most financial value and come up with the most suitable protection methods
An IP asset might have given the IP rights holders benefits in one area. However, the IP rights holders might always research for some other areas where their invention might become more useful and gained even more profits.
Even if after careful consideration they can’t just expand to that market, they can always consider other methods such as licensing the IP assets to create new, automatic revenue streams.
However, it’s best that the IP rights holders carefully consider their options as blindly expanding might result in a negative consequence.
For example, in franchising, one of the most problematic issues that the franchisor has to deal with is the lack of necessary oversight on the franchisee’s store, leading to the downturn of the brand’s image and overall, if one consumer has a bad experience in the system, that message will quickly spread to all consumers in the area, and later, the entire world considering how technology has developed in a couple of decades.
Accordingly, assessment and reassessment is the necessary procedure when working with IP assets.
Franck Fougere, managing partner at Ananda IP in Bangkok stated about this issue: “IP right owners shall not blindly renew their trademark applications but rather take the opportunity to reassess whether their protection is still accurate, up-to-date and whether they can save costs by switching to international trademark applications rather than keeping national applications. With the Madrid System now well in place in Asia, it is time for Asia’s IP owners to rationalize their IP portfolios so as to save costs and increase potentially their trademark territorial protection at much cheaper cost.”
Integrate the use of IP incorporate strategies and develop a regular plan to adapt to the change of the world
Making a plan of utilizing the IP assets requires hard work.
There are many fields to consider.
Each element can affect the overall success of the business, or it can lead to the doom of one.
Accordingly, if the IP rights holder doesn’t have knowledge on how to expand their business utilizing their IP assets, they should consider contacting a reputable law firm for advice.
Daniel Lim, director in charge of litigation at Joyce A. Tan & Partners in Singapore said about planning to success: “Business plans and structuring often focus on mission, vision, values, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and other factors. Each of these should be infused with a mindset that there is IP to be protected and exploited.”
Deanna Wong, owner of DeLab Consulting in Hong Kong stated about the need to acknowledge the world’s trend and its possible effects on the business plan: “Consider consumer behavioral change and adapt business and IP strategy accordingly. This may include social media use, CSR efforts, product cycle review, product direction/supply chain updates, and others.”
To do this, the business should have a monthly or even weekly meeting to discuss the path forward for the business: Wond added: “Consider and update the company’s own IP strategies to check if previous practice or policy is still applicable.”
Register, observe and apply necessary methods to protect the IP assets
For IP rights holders who haven’t registered their IP assets. This is mostly in the case of copyright cause this type of asset is automatically protected in many countries.
However, even in those countries, it’s best that the IP rights holders should register their IP assets immediately after its creation as this will allow them to avoid a lot of problems when conflicts arise.
For trademark, patent, industrial design, etc., registration is mandatory as most of the current countries follow the first to file principle. Accordingly, it’s necessary to register an IP asset to protect it while doing business in the market.
In addition, early registration will give the IP rights holders a lot of benefits such as potential business deals, saving legal costs if encountered with disputes from third parties, etc.
However, even if registration has been made, the IP rights holders shouldn’t relax and automatically think that they are forever safe.
IP rights can be challenged in various ways, such as by non-use cancellation and invalidation, among others.
Consequently, the IP owners should periodically review their IP assets and file backup applications to not be passive when some problems occur.
Carefully preserving the evidence of use of the IP assets is also a welcoming strategy. On this matter, Wong said: “Update and build a database with paper trails and evidence of use of branded goods and other IP-protected products, so it can be used and retrieved easily in case of need, such as in an infringement procedure, non-use cancellation, among others.”
Establish confidential, non-disclosure agreements
In the business world, there is no room for sentimental.
Accordingly, even if the employee is your directly related sister, brother, there is still a need to establish a contract that stipulates the rules and the consequences of breaking those rules.
As IP assets are very important and can be easily learned and spread by a single individual, either intentionally or unintentionally, they needed to be regulated and managed.
Wong stated this as follows: “Verify compliance of internal and external privacy policies with quickly evolving privacy rules around the globe including data processing practices.”
Not just employees that work directly and have firsthand knowledge of the assets, the clients, business partners that work with the IP rights holders also needed to be regulated and supervised by some sort of NDA/confidentiality agreement in place.
Resolutions for IP lawyers
For IP lawyers, the consultants who have direct impacts on their client’s success, it’s important that they place their client’s best interest on their working principle.
Treating the client in the way that their problem is our problem, their success is our success will allow the IP lawyers to give their all to find methods to assist the clients.
Reaffirm to the client the importance of IP
Some lawyers just receive the orders from the clients and do what they are instructed.
There are not many real interactions between the company and the clients, except for the direct work.
That needs to be improved.
The IP lawyers should not just focus on the matter at hand, but instead, they should try to remind the client about the importance of the current IP asset, as well as the importance of other IP assets that they potentially have because IP is where the money is.
Achieving that, the client will have a deep understanding of IP, not just spreading the knowledge but they will also gaining a sense of loyalty to the IP company and will come back for future services.
Lim stated about this issue: “In the modern economy, the value of intangible IP assets is proportionally larger, and increasingly so, when compared with the value of tangible assets. It, therefore, makes all sense to align and orientate our focus on IP because it is where future value rests.”
Write short, concise explanations to clients
Sometimes, the explaining is also a problem. The clients, as well as all of us, will not want to receive a 10,000 words essay regarding their problem. They hired the IP lawyers to make their problems go away with a short, simple solution.
Therefore, they will feel incredibly resentful if they receive a long letter explaining to them every detail of the problem. In addition, they might also think that the lawyers did this to try to make the case more complex and require more service fees.
Ted Chwu, partner at Bird & Bird in Hong Kong stated: “Time and again when we conduct client listening surveys, one of the biggest bugbears is that clients want to receive advice in a straightforward and easily digestible format, quite possibly ready for them to cut and paste into their further internal communications.”
(Reference from asiaiplaw)
You can see a list of International IP Firms here.