How to Create a Business Strategy for Intellectual Property (IP) Monetization?

Intellectual Property (IP) monetization refers to using the IP assets in such a way that they generate revenue. Nowadays, IP monetization is quite common in various industries, ranging from healthcare to medicine. There are indeed multiple ways of generating revenue from IP assets, all of which require having an exclusive set of skills and abilities. Without any second thoughts, IP monetization has now become an exceedingly challenging task with the introduction of new laws and growing competition in the IP industry. So, let us now make ourselves familiar with a 10-step approach corresponding to creating a business strategy for IP monetization.

#Step1 – Broadly evaluate your business

Before crafting an efficient strategy for IP monetization, there is a dire need for you as a business owner to complete an overall assessment of your business and its offerings. What you can effectively do is begin by critically evaluating a few aspects of your business, namely its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.

#Step2 – Assess the IP assets of your business

This step involves analyzing the IP assets of your brand and business. It should consist of a complete review of the opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses presented by the following:

• Registered IP assets in the form of a trademark, patent, copyright, industrial design, or geographical indication
• Unregistered IP assets such as a trade secret or confidential information
• Pending IP applications

The assessment should include a few critical details about the IP assets of your business, which are as follows:

• The lifespan of the IP assets
• Any objections, challenges, or oppositions raised by your competitors
• Any maintenance fees associated with the upkeep of the IP assets
• Any untapped IP monetization opportunities left to be explored

#Step3 – Determine and understand the value of your IP assets

For having a complete understanding of the role that your IP plays in your business, you need to determine and understand its value efficaciously. For doing the same, both qualitative and quantitative methods of evaluation can prove to be exceedingly beneficial. Quantitative methods rely on measurable data for producing an estimate of the IP asset value. On the other hand, qualitative methods offer a non-monetary estimate of IP asset value via intangible metrics, including brand loyalty, strategic impact, future growth impact, to name a few. Remember, these two methods of evaluation should not be treated as mutually exclusive.

#Step4 – Choose monetization tactics

After determining the estimated value of the IP assets of your business, there’s a need to come across the IP assets best suited for monetizing further. You can then evaluate multiple monetization strategies for determining the one that yields the best long-term and short-term profits. You can effectively explore various monetization strategies, including licensing, commercialization within a business, securitization, co-development, and spin-out. Besides, before settling on the right approach for your business, you should carefully conduct a cost/benefit analysis corresponding to every option available.

#Step5 – Set your IP goals

Your IP goals require being quantifiable, precise, sensible, actionable, and conveniently assigned for achievement, unlike your broader strategy. Every goal that you set in your overall IP strategy should be SMART, that is:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Actionable
R – Rational
T – Timely

#Step6 – Integrate your IP monetization decisions into the big picture

After establishing your IP goals, you need to figure out how these goals will help you in achieving your overall business goals and strategies. Without any second thoughts, it is indeed an ideal opportunity for you to integrate your IP goals into your company’s vision statement or mission, which shall further offer assistance to you in answering the following questions:

• How does your business do better than your competitors out there?
• What value do your brand and its business bring to the customers?
• How can you secure and then monetize your competitive advantage?
• How can you use your IP assets to overcome any obstacle that comes in the way of your company’s growth?
• What kind of associations do you want your customers to make with your brand and its business?

#Step7 – Set realistic timelines

Without SMART IP goals having a definite prognosticate outcome, it becomes arduous to create a fully functional IP monetization strategy. It is also equally imperative to set realistic timelines by which you need to accomplish all your strategic objectives.

#Step8 – Disclose your IP strategy only to relevant parties

It is imperative to make a point of the fact that your IP monetization strategy is also an intangible asset that needs to be kept confidential from your arch-competitors and other entities involved in your business. Also, it is highly advisable to reveal only that much to others as they need to know for being effective in their respective roles.

#Step9 – Make the most out of performance tracking systems

By tracking key performance indicators in your everyday operations, you will be efficiently able to move towards the ultimate path of success and grab opportunities for making further corrections. Relevant metrics may include market share, profitability, monthly and annual growth of revenues, royalty payments from licensees, and so on.

#Step10 – Maintain the value and identify new opportunities with an IP review process

For ensuring that your IP assets continue bringing immense value to your brand and business, you should always put in sincere efforts for maintaining and reviewing your IP portfolio. It includes administrative roles such as paying maintenance fees timely and general-purpose roles such as seeking and seizing opportunities for filing new IP applications and monetizing those IP assets subsequently.