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Managing IP Value at Risk

By Andrew W. Carter and Robert J. Block
October 08, 2004

Part Two of a Two-Part Series

In Part One of this article, we examined the risks to intellectual property (IP) value that would most preoccupy IP professionals, including: third-party risks for infringement liability, first-party risks to IP assets, and Directors & Officers (D&O) risks arising out of relevant valuation and disclosure. However, as IP specifically accounts for a higher ratio of market capitalization and shareholder value for publicly traded corporations, strategic choices relating to IP impact the firm's financial fortunes in more subtle ways, commensurate with that increased value. To cite one salient example: For IP-rich companies, tax planning is increasingly intertwined with Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) strategy.

One threshold challenge for IP-rich companies is that corporate tax professionals and IP experts do not usually speak the same professional language. This is unsurprising ' tax professionals are not usually also IP experts, making it difficult for them to understand and take advantage of complex IP-related strategies. The practical solution is to ensure that the right IP experts and tax professionals communicate with each other meaningfully and regularly. Risk management can propose and facilitate such a solution.

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