Tips For Startups – Intellectual Property And Its Value To Your Company

Co-authored by: Brandon Deans, Temporary Articled Student

Often a start-up company's most valuable asset is its intellectual property ("IP") portfolio. The forms of IP that make up its portfolio will depend on the space a company inhabits, the stage of its growth and its ideas, processes and products. To preserve and grow a company's value, it is crucial for founders to understand the forms of IP their companies have created, and will continue to generate, and to ensure these forms of IP are protected.

What Types of IP Might Form Your IP Portfolio?

To begin, it may be a useful exercise to conduct an IP audit on your own company to determine the forms of IP that now, and may in the future, make up your company's IP portfolio. Since each category of IP covers a slightly different asset, and comes with its own set of rights and protections, it is important to differentiate between the multiple categories of IP. Consider each of the categories below and whether your