1. What Is An IP Driven Start-up?

Few start-ups are established without the founders having an eye on a future exit, even if they hope to change the world along the way or as a final outcome of their efforts. And equally few founders do not wish to maximise the financial rewards from such an exit for themselves and for their partners. For the tech start-up there is little doubt that the chances of a successful exit and the rewards from that exit are hugely dependent on the Intellectual Property generated along the way and the extent to which that IP is captured and protected.

Some start-ups may arrive at a point of exit with the good fortune to have captured and protected their key IP assets by way of happy accident. Or, they may have been in the fortunate position of having inherited foundational and hugely valuable IP from a predecessor: that might be true in the case of a spin-out from a university. These companies are rare beasts. For many start-ups, critical IP assets will have slipped through