Comprehensive Intellectual Property (IP) Audits: A Four Step Process

An intellectual property (IP) audit is essentially an inventory of a company’s intangible assets. A professional audit helps businesses determine what they own, how much their IP is worth to them, the strengths and weaknesses in their current procedures, and what action they can take to better protect their company. You may be wondering:

What does an intellectual property audit actually entail?

Here, our Boca Raton intellectual property audit lawyers highlight the four key steps of the process.

Step #1: Create a Detailed Audit Plan

An effective intellectual property audit requires a carefully crafted plan of action. Indeed, for any IP audit of significant size, it is imperative that a plan is prepared in advance. Among other things, an IP audit plan should address:

• The specific areas for inquiry;
• The scope of the audit;
• A timeline for completion; and
• Responsibilities of the auditors.

Proper planning will help to ensure that the IP audit is completed in an efficient, cost effective manner and that no important areas are missed. With IP audits, organization can make a tremendous difference.

Step #2: Complete Initial Information Gathering

Once you have the plan in place, your IP audit can move to the initial information gathering stage. This is one of the most important (and complicated) aspects of an intellectual property audit. A review of a company’s intangible assets is only as good as the information gathering. In conducting an audit, an attorney may need to collect information pertaining to the nature of intellectual property, previous brand protection strategies used by the company, legal opinions, and much more.

Step #3: Draft a Written Audit Report

When you work with a top-rated Florida IP lawyer, the results of your intellectual property audit will, generally, be privileged information. In other words, the audit can be kept completely confidential—meaning it would not be discoverable during litigation. Assuming proper procedures are followed, the IP audit and written report may be protected. A written report will let decision-makers know what they need to do to protect the business.

Step #4: Take Action to Establish and Protect IP Rights

In most cases, an IP audit will conclude with some action items. Owners and operators of a company may want to take action to better protect their intangible assets. As a simple example, imagine that the company owns valuable original content. The United States Copyright Office does not require a work to be registered in order to get legal protection. That being said, the agency notes that registration can make it easier for a firm to protect commercially valuable copyrights as a registered copyright is necessary to file a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Schedule Your Comprehensive Intellectual Property Audit Today

At Perkins Law, our Florida brand protection lawyers are experienced, solutions-focused advocates for clients. With a comprehensive IP audit, you can best protect the rights and interests of your business. For a completely confidential, no obligation consultation with an experienced IP lawyer please contact our law firm right away. We represent companies in South Florida and nationwide.

Resource:

copyright.gov/help/faq/