“Part of a bigger innovation picture”
Integration of IPR enforcement and innovation support
Maria Weir
Operations Manager
Intellectual Assets Centre Scotland
The Intellectual Assets Centre
“To assist Scottish businesses to maximise theeconomic potential of their intellectual assets”
First of its kind in Europe
Funded by the Scottish Government
Independent, impartial, a facilitator
Not a grant-giver
Part of a set of organisations giving joined up Innovation Support as a clear strategic policy aim
A few of the IA Centre’s aims
To raise awareness and understanding of intellectual assets (IA) among Scottish organisations
To help those organizations identify and exploit the untapped potential of their IA
To work with independent IA management specialists and encourage their sector to grow
How we’re helping?
Events and programmes
Sectoral Support and Key themes e.g. IA in procurement
One-to-company support by staff and our associates
Tools
Information
New Business Service Partnerships!
Why are intellectual assets important?
Whilst it may be difficult to separate some of these assets out for sale they’re still worth something - look at the monetary values attributed to intangibles:
Around 80% of value lies in intangibles e.g.2005 Procter & Gamble purchase of Gillette for $57b 97% of the
value was attributed to the intangibles* e.g. March 2006 L’Oreal bought The Body Shop for £652.2m 81% of
the purchase price was for intangibles* More than £20bn in Scottish SMEs alone
They are highly rated by investors, shareholders and others seeking to identify business value drivers.
* Source: The Importance of customer valuation. Thayne Forbes IA Magazine Issue 19 August / September 2006
What do we mean by...? (some definitions)
Intellectual Capital (IC) - intangible organisational assets of a business
Intellectual Assets (IA) (aka Intangible Assets) - the intangible assets that are or can be recorded
(or written down, codified etc)
Intellectual Property (IP) - the bits of the IA that are legally protected by statute
law
IP or IA or Intellectual Capital?
Intangible Assets
Intangible Assets (Intellectual
Capital)
Intellectual Assets Intellectual Property
PatentsCopyright
Trade marksDesign rights
Plant variety rights
Intellectual PropertyKnow-how
BrandsReputation
GoodwillBusiness processes
Trade secretsCustomer databases
etc.
Intellectual AssetsIntellectual Property
Human Capital
Examples of other “non-IP” intellectual assets
Know-how and show-how e.g. chef, R&D company Process procedures and technical information e.g. SOP Confidential information / trade secrets
e.g. Drambuie, Irn Bru Management systems and infra-structure Unregistered trade marks and domain names Contracts e.g. employee, lease, license, etc
Some more examples
Image enhancing customers Goodwill and reputation e.g. Ratners; Toyota - damaged Brands Customer and supplier knowledge
and networks Accreditations e.g. ISO, IIP, by Royal Appointment Market knowledge All these Intellectual Assets may add value to your brand
and how customers, suppliers and potential partners or
investors view your organisation!
Why are IA so important?
Whether a big global player or SME, understanding the IA of a business can: show the KEY commercial strengths of a business inform business strategy stimulate innovation, e.g. by suggesting and controlling diversification help raise money e.g. investment, mortgaging generate new income streams be traded in – e.g. licensed, assigned add kudos and act as a marketing tool deter and prevent the competition…….. etc
What do we offer? IA Showcase – free events, seminars, case studies IA Skillbuilding events – for business support professionals and companies –examples 3 day IP Masterclass and Love Me Tender (for small
businesses who wish to enhance their tender prospects through management of their IA) IA Valuebuilding programmes – examples have been with software businesses, helps businesses communicate the value of their intangible
assets IA Costsaver – consultancy advice and downloadable resources from the IA Centre website. We pay for consultancy days clients pay nothing.
Projects have run for these sectors: creative, energy & renewables, food & tourism, HE and the public sector, financial services; life sciences, engineering & manufacturing
Supplier Directory of Business Service Partners - offering free initial consultations and special rates in the fields of IP, legal services, finance and accounting, brand management, people management, reputation management, knowledge management, supply chain logistics and procurement.
Professionalism in Service Delivery: Making IPR work for SMEs
Prior to the establishment of an IA Centre in Scotland (2003) About 66% of Scottish businesses had never heard of the
term ‘intellectual assets’ (IA) Approximately 74% would report not having a good
understanding of IA More than half of Scotland’s businesses had never
considered the importance of IA to their businesses Only 16% of Scotland’s businesses had undertaken any
activity to manage their IA Only 8% of Scottish businesses had taken steps to
protect or safeguard their IA (of that 8% about 58% had protected their IP)
What do SMEs in Scotland protect and how do they do so?
The most protected IA were company name, reputation of the company, company customer base and quality of products and services
The most frequently used protection methods were confidentiality agreements and employee contracts. More specialised forms of protection such as registered designs, patents, IP insurance and copyright were less well used
Only 3% of Scottish businesses reported using patents to protect their IA.
What do SMEs cite as the business benefits of protecting their IA?
Increase in company value Better understanding of business strengths Attraction of new customers
Why do companies not protect their IA? – most commonly cited reason is ‘insufficient time’ followed by ‘not thought about it’, also sometimes –’my company is too small to exploit our IA’
The Majority of Scottish SMEs are micro companies.
What support needs to SMEs have?
56% of the 1000+ businesses we surveyed wanted to know more about IA. The most popular areas are:
General information about IA Information on how other businesses have addressed IAHow to value and exploit IA
In 2003 the most frequently used sources of external support were lawyers, management consultants, patent attorneys and accountants. A small proportion of companies reported using public sector support. In 2008 this had changed quite radically with more public sector support being available e.g. Scottish Enterprise, H&I Enterprise, ICASS, SMART Scotland, Interface, KTPs etc.
Feedback indicated that when used, external assistance had been highly rated, although there were suggestions that the cost of engaging specialist support was a barrier for some companies
“Prevention rather than cure”
Premise of Intellectual Assets Centre in regard to IPR enforcement is that prevention is better than cureIA Centre promotes good intellectual asset managementIA Centre sits within a network of organisations broadly promoting innovationIA wider than purely legally protected IP, includes other intangible assets than can be recorded or codified (e,g brands, goodwill, know-how, trade-secrets, technical information, contracts)A principal message is that such assets are sources of competitive advantage and represent significant value – thus need to be managed strategically
What does the IA Centre offer to businesses?
Programme of events & workshops Tailored one to one support to individual companies Our new Business Service Partnerships! Downloadable resources such as:
Publications An IA Audit tool IA Glossary IA Register Case Studies
Almost all service from the IA Centre are currently free or for minimum charge to Scottish companies
Outlay by Scottish Government approx €1.5m per annum
Transferability & PerformanceThe strategic plan for the IA Centre includes: To put IA on the business agenda To make the case for IA as a business tool To provide support (advice and tools) for the visualisation of IA To provide initial gap analysis and risk assessment diagnostics To provide support for management, valuation and leverage of IA To link appropriately with professional assistors and associated regulatory and consultative bodies
e.g IPO and private providers of IA/IP advice (through our Business Service Partnership model)
Results Awareness and appreciation of IA - up Consolidation of IAM activity amongst the active population of
companies Numbers of companies exploiting IA - up 9% recognition level amongst the general sample of companies High proportion of companies in sample have contacted the
Centre within the last 6- 12 months Low proportion of ‘deadweight’ 90% of the sample had a very good experience of their
interaction with the Centre and would recommend the Centre to others.
Staff competence rated very highly 10% of the funding has come from non-core sources Scotland was seeing above average increase in trade mark
applications (up to 2007) and substantial increase in the interest in copyright
Good recognition among key partners and suppliers
On-going challenges
positive feedback, but impacts very limited, particularly around exploiting IA more awareness than action – expected – long term agenda economic impacts very low, although additionality reasonably strong and
improving evidence of ongoing demand (70% beyond initial advice) particularly around IP,
but ongoing reluctance to pay for services
Some feedback from SMEs who have worked with the Centre
www.ia-centre.org.uk
The IA Centre is keen to consider collaborations The IA Centre is keen to consider collaborations with other initiatives so if you would like to with other initiatives so if you would like to discuss ideas please see how to contact us discuss ideas please see how to contact us belowbelowMain officeMain officeEmail: Email: [email protected]: Post: Skypark 2, 12 Elliot Place, Glasgow, G3 8EPTel: Tel: 0141 243 4920Web: www.ia-centre.org.uk
Please log on to the international section of our website:http://www.ia-centre.org.uk/international/