A new suite of support tools has been launched this week by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to help small firms identify, protect and grow their intellectual property (IP) assets.
Called ‘IP for Business’, the five tools will ensure that firms can tap into up-to-date guidance to help manage their IP and will help them get more relevant advice from their business advisers.
According to the IPO, the tools respond to the challenge of making sure that businesses can generate value from ideas against a backdrop of poor understanding of IP rights and how they can exploit them.
At the centre of the toolkit is IP Equip, which is a new, free interactive online training tool that helps businesses and their advisors to identify assets that may be protected by IP rights and think through the strategy for protecting them.
Allied to this is the IP Equip app, which is available to download free from the Apple store iTunes and Android App store. This is aimed at giving business owners access to IP information on the go.
Other tools include IP Basics, which is a range of new guides for business owners, explaining how to maximise the potential of IP, IP Health Check which allows business owners to assess their own business for free with a tailored report to identify and value their IP and IP Master Class, which is a popular accredited course enabling advisors to advance their knowledge.
As the IPO points out, IP plays a vital role in encouraging business growth and success, so understanding the IP a business owns or uses and how to manage this strategically can offer significant benefits to an organisation.