Feature
Issue No. 38 - December/January 07/08
Don‘t leave IP essentials undone
by Gerry Cawson
When you’re moving fast, it’s sometimes hard to plan ahead. You can easily miss the sign posts you need to take the correct exit and before you know it, you’re lost and facing the fear of having to ask for directions.
There’s no shame in asking for directions in advance or early on in your journey. In fact, whether it’s directions to get from A to B on a car journey or the advice of professional advisers to direct your business growth, a bit of early planning can go a long way to business success.
In Minter Ellison’s experience many young companies miss the chance to set the best foundations for their business expansion when they have the time. Unfortunately, as they grow, the lack of scaleable platforms or risk mitigation strategies leaves them exposed.
From our experience, the following are a selection of the issues that fast moving companies should think about in their early stages of growth:
•Protect your IP – whatever the nature of your business, understand the value of your intellectual property, how to protect it, make it valuable and, should the worst happen and your business fail, keep it to try again.
Identifying where IP is generated in your business and making sure it is wholly owned by the business - often within a group structure - is of critical importance to all businesses. Young businesses that fail to take these steps risk losing their most valuable assets.
Registration of intellectual property where possible, and proper licensing terms when you provide others with access to your IP, are essential for any business, regardless of where they are in their life cycle.
•Know the risks in capital raising – Funding is often an issue for growing businesses. While debt funding is plentiful in the current market, there’s only so much you can do without a certain level of equity in the business. If you don’t have your own money, raising money from others can be ...
