Intellectual Property and Economic Policy: Part II
Monitoring and Identifying Existing and New Intellectual Property
With respect to an economy, intellectual property rights create value in business products and/or services. Furthermore, intellectual property rights allow a business to distinguish their goods and services amongst competitors. An owner may exploit these rights and its value in the marketplace. For instance, a patent owner holds a significant advantage against competitors and a clear advantage in market utilization, since the patent owner can enforce patent rights against those competitors. As a result, any business should evaluate the potential value of their intellectual property, as a potential right to secure, and then enforce against others.
Ignorance or neglect of intellectual property rights can present inherent dangers to any business. For instance, a business may fail to take full advantage of those assets or fully appreciate the actions of their competitors. Unfortunately, many businesses often overlook the real potential of intellectual property. Even worse is the situation where a business fails to monitor and police rights that they already have. Even though the government gives intellectual property owners rights, it is up to the owner to police or enforce these rights.
A business that is alert and aware of its intellectual property may generate many business opportunities, and in return that business may avoid expensive problems. Implementing an intellectual property protection policy would require the identification and protection of intellectual property rights that the business may already possess, which may include patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and trade dress.
Logically, it is desirable to protect every particular piece of intellectual property that a business owns. However, that may not be economically feasible. Rather, a business should perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether securing and maintaining intellectual property protection is necessary. Even if a business does not have a marketplace for that intellectual property, secured rights can be sold or rented like real property.
