Any intangible asset that consists of human knowledge and ideas is an intellectual property. Some examples are patents, copyrights, trademarks and software. Most such assets cannot be recognized on a balance sheet when internally generated, since it is very difficult to objectively value intellectual property assets (slightly different rules apply in the case of software). They can, however, be included in a balance sheet if acquired, which allows a more accurate valuation for the asset (which is the acquisition cost).

Intellectual Property is a broad categorical description for the set of intangibles owned and legally protected by a company from outside use or implementation without consent. Intellectual property can consist of patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks, or simply ideas.

The concept of intellectual property relates to the fact that certain products of human intellect should be afforded the same protective rights that apply to physical property. Most developed economies have legal measures in place to protect both forms of property.

Companies are diligent when it comes to identifying and protecting intellectual property because it holds such high value in today’s increasingly knowledge-based economy. Extracting value from intellectual property and preventing others from deriving value from it is an important responsibility for any company.

Many forms of IP cannot be listed on the balance sheet as assets, but the value of such property tends to be reflected in the price of the stock. Management’s ability to manage these effectively and turn profits is just one example.

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At a hotel in Munich Webasto, a German auto parts maker plans to do something nearly unthinkable: license the rights to one of its best-selling products - a roof-top solar panel for cars and trucks - to the highest bidder at a public auction.

For a decade, Webasto, based in the Munich suburb of Stockdorf, has spent millions negotiating the sale of licenses for its vehicle solar panels to automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Opel, Volkswagen and Audi. But it is now set to sell nonexclusive rights at the first intellectual property, or IP, auction in Europe. Organizers of the auction hope it will open a new sales channel to speed the transfer of intellectual property in a cheaper, more transparent marketplace.

“The knowledge society is becoming more and more important,” said Manfred Petri, of IP Auctions, the Hamburg company that is organizing the event and that is owned by a group of European patent lawyers, IP assessors and private investors. “The values being created by intellectual property are becoming too large to trade in a clandestine market.”

Global sales of IP surged with the rise of the digital economy, with annual transactions rising from just $10 billion in 1990 to $200 billion this year, according to Petri.

The auction has attracted the interest of 84 sellers who are trading licenses and patents for technologies ranging from industrial coating machinery to treatments for psoriasis and skin cancer.

The minimum value of the IP being auctioned in Munich is more than €5 million, or $6.7 million, according to organizers. A third of the sellers are large companies like Bayer, Rolls-Royce Deutschland and ABB; a third are individuals; the rest are universities and research institutes.

Many sellers are hoping for a new sales channel for IP, which is costly to market through the traditional method of hiring patent attorneys to negotiate with potential buyers. Webasto is hoping to get a seven-digit sum for the license to its sun-roof solar panel, which generates electricity to ventilate parked cars on hot summer days.

“Climate change is a very big topic right now and we are approaching this auction with that in mind,” said the director of intellectual property services for Webasto.

Smaller sellers, who often lack the clout to obtain large IP royalty fees in negotiations with corporations, are also hoping for better profits. That includes Ipal, an organization that markets patents developed by researchers at universities and teaching hospitals. In Munich, Ipal is auctioning rights to inositolized phospholipids, a substance developed by researchers at Charité Hospital that has shown promise in treating skin ailments.

To join the auction, Ipal is paying a €1,000 entry fee, which is a small fraction of the normal cost, said Marcel Tilmann, a manager at Ipal. “An auction brings together buyers and sellers in one room,” said Tilmann. “That means that there will be pressure to come to an agreement, which is often half the battle.”

A Chicago company, Ocean Tomo, held the first IP auction in the world last year in San Francisco. An Ocean Tomo auction in April netted a record $11.4 million for sellers, including the largest single fee paid at such an auction, $3 million. Ocean Tomo plans to hold its first European auction on June 1 in London.

“The auction is a unique platform; it creates a sense of urgency. It is appropriate not just for patents and licenses but for brands and catalogues.

But Lothar Steiling, chief patent counsel at Bayer, who is also president of the German Association of Intellectual Property Experts, said auctions would probably fill a niche only for smaller IP sales, with larger sales remaining subject to protracted one-on-one negotiations.

But even Bayer is willing to experiment. On Tuesday, it will auction off a license for electro chromic systems, a nanotechnology used to tint windows and enable car mirrors to be used as digital displays. Besides royalties, Steiling said Bayer wants to cut the cost of maintaining 80,000 patents.

“If this auction is successful,” Steiling said, “we will be back.”

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There are three main types of patents: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents.

An invention means a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application.

New invention is defined as any invention or technology which has not
been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of patent application with complete specification. (The subject matter has not fallen in public domain or that it does not form part of the state of the art).

The criteria for an invention to be patentable are,
(1) An invention must be novel
(2) Has an inventive step and
(3) Is capable of industrial application.

A novel invention is one, which has not been published, in the prior art. (Prior art means everything that has been published, presented or otherwise disclosed to the public on the date of patent). The prior art includes documents in foreign languages published in any format in any country of the world.

For an invention to be judged as novel, the disclosed information should not be available in the ‘prior art’. This means that there should not be any prior disclosure of any information contained in the application for patent anywhere in the public domain, either written or in any other form, or in any language before the date on which the application is first filed i.e. the ‘priority date’.

Inventive step is a feature of an invention that involves:

At least one part of the invention should be in an inventive step having economic significance making the invention non obvious to a person skilled in art.

An invention is capable of industrial application when it can be used in at least one field of activity and it can be reproduced with the same characteristics as many times as necessary.

On the basis of the above criteria an invention can be patented.

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Inventions are of two types - patentable inventions and non-patentable inventions.

The rules for Patentable inventions are as follows:

An invention should not be related to the natural laws.

An invention should not cause immorality or which causes serious prejudice to human, animal or plant life or health or to the environment.

It may be a discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non-living substances occurring in nature.

The mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus is not patentable unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant.

A substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance is not patentable.

The mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently of one another in a known way is not patentable

A method of agriculture or horticulture is not patentable.

Any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic diagnostic therapeutic or other treatment of human being or any process for a similar treatment of animals to render them free of disease or to increase their economic value is not patentable.

Plants and animals in whole or any part other than microorganisms, but including seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals can be patented.

A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation, including cinematographic works and television productions can be patented.

An invention related to atomic energy cannot be patented.

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These patent attorneys, trademark attorneys and copyrights attorneys can help you with legal issues surrounding the rights of ownership of patents, trademarks and copyrights; the application or registration of patents, trademarks and copyrights; licensing and transferring of rights; and the legal or illegal use of any of this intellectual property. The following are general descriptions of patents, trademarks and copyrights:

* Trademark
A trademark can be a logo, name, symbol, or device used to differentiate a product or service of one trader (or commercial entity) from that of another-brand identity. Trademark protection lasts for 10 years after registration, and is renewable.

* Patent
A patent is the grant of right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing an invention or discovery, including new and improved products and processes. Patents can be registered in foreign countries, last for 20 years and are renewable. But, if the patent expires, the exclusive rights to make, use, sell or import the invention or discovery is lost.

* Copyright
A Copyright is protection granted to authors of original authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, and computer software, as well as performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and broadcasters in their radio and television programs. Example: The creators of your favorite music CD, movie, or computer game have a copyright on their work. Copyrights last for the life of an author plus 50 years.

Because patents, trademarks and copyrights all fall under the broad area of intellectual property law, if you plan on obtaining a trademark, patent or copyright it is in your best interest to consult with a qualified trademark attorney, patent attorney or copyright lawyers to help you properly file for protection of your intellectual property. Find an attorney that’s right for you and your situation.

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Intellectual Property law covers Patents, Trademarks and Copyright. These are sufficiently different in their nature that no one view can be said to pervade the international arrangements with respect to IP.

Patents provide a monopoly right to the first person (or institution) to invent a product or process. To prevent others from exploiting on the inventiveness of a few and to encourage new inventions, inventors are granted an exclusive, but limited right to exploit their inventions for a certain time period (usually 20 years). This provides an incentive for future innovation. Patent regimes tend to vary a fair bit between nations. International agreements serve primarily to ensure that domestic Patentees are not given preferential treatment.

Trademark law is intended to protect companies’ investment in the “good will” they develop in their name or mark and protect consumers from confusion. A trade mark is the word or symbol adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.

Copyright provides economic incentives for creation as well as protecting an authors’ creativity as embodied in a work. Copyright is the exclusive right to copy a creative work or allow someone else to do so. It includes the sole right to publish, produce or reproduce, to perform in public, to communicate a work to the public by telecommunications, to translate a work, and in some cases, to rent the work.

Features of Intellectual Property Rights

1. Intellectual property is intangible
2. The rights to protect this property prohibit others from making, copying, using or selling the proprietary subject matter.
3. Under biotechnology, one of the most important examples of intellectual property is the processes and products, which result from the development of genetic engineering techniques through the use of restriction enzymes to create recombinant D.N.A.

Conclusion

Intellectual property rights are a complex, multifaceted area and one in which corporate strategy is very poorly understood. Fundamentally, IPR management is a crucial activity best entrusted to experts in the field.

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Individual patents and trademarks are important assets that deserve all the protections worldwide intellectual property conventions allow. Only a Patent Lawyer can address the following important questions:

Are you getting the most value from your intellectual property investments?

Does your company need strategic planning for a growing patent portfolio?

Do you need patent protection for a new invention?

Has your company been accused of violating intellectual property rights?

Has your company received a letter claiming you have violated a trademark or patent? 

Has another company violated your trademark registered to your firm?

An experienced Patent attorney can protect your valuable intellectual property and defend your company against attack from competitors.

Patents and trademarks are important to your company’s success. You need an effective, company-wide intellectual property strategy to manage your portfolio. You also need the legal knowledge and experience to protect that portfolio.

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The cornerstone of the practice of a Patent Lawyer involves the development and protection of intellectual property rights by filing national and foreign patent, trademark, and copyright applications no matter where you are located. 

This also includes the pursuit and defense of traditional patent, trademark, and copyright infringement claims and litigation in related areas such as theft of trade secrets, false advertising, non-competition agreements, unfair competition, deceptive and unfair trade practices, internet law, cyber squatting, domain name disputes (ICANN), and breach of licensing agreements.

Ultimately, whether a client is negotiating a business transaction, needs counseling and representation about intellectual property use and protection, or is involved in litigation, the duty of the Patent lawyer is to accomplish the client’s goals and resolve the client’s legal issues in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

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