Value of IP rights
IP rights are an incentive to encourage and reward innovation. They provide the owner with the opportunity to take advantage of their creation while limiting competition for varying periods and in various ways.
Success or failure
Protecting and managing your IP is important when establishing your product or service in the market and is often the difference between success or failure.
The existence of IP rights restricts competitive market forces for a set period.
IP rights reward and encourage
IP rights:
- encourage owners to engage in innovative activities that benefit society
- reward the innovator's effort and skills
- promote wider access to innovations and advance further research and development by others
- provide a set period of protection
IP rights provide competitive advantage
IP rights provide a number of competitive advantages for their owners. For example:
- IP rights can provide an extremely valuable bargaining tool and in most cases can be sold for financial gain.
- IP rights may help their owner compete on the basis of the reputation associated with a product rather than on price alone.
- IP laws give the owner the right to determine who can use the IP and how it can be used.
- IP rights provide the owners with a number of options in the event that the owner cannot afford to manufacture the IP, or position themselves competitively in all potential markets. The most common way of commercialising IP is through licences.
The fact that IP rights are not physical means that they can be used many times without being diminished. That means, for example, that the same IP can be licensed to a number of different licensees each based on a specified geographic region.
IP laws reduce the chances of your products and/or services being replicated and passed off as those of a rival trader, and can open up new opportunities.
Last Updated: 12/12/2012
