Palo Alto Intellectual Property Transactions partner Richard Hsu was quoted in an article, titled “Optimising Value in IP Assets,” in the June 2014 issue of Financier Worldwide. The article discusses how companies can ensure their intellectual property is aligned with business objectives and how they can manage risk to generate maximum value from their intellectual property portfolio.

The article finds that an increasing number of companies generate revenue through licensing or selling their intellectual assets. “If it’s just a naked patent portfolio,” Hsu says, “the strategy is usually to sell or licence the portfolio through litigation enforcement. If the portfolio is tied to a tangible asset such as a product, business or technology, the intellectual property can be used to increase the value of the tangible assets in a traditional business deal, such as a licence or technology partnering arrangement.”

Commenting on the benefits of IP audits, Hsu noted that “[m]any companies don’t really know what IP they have or what they cover and, consequently, don’t even know if they are spending too much or not enough money on IP.” The article further maintains that effective strategies for monitoring competitive patent portfolios can help identify areas of potential emerging technology. “Most companies focus on covering their own inventions, which is good,” Hsu says, “but not as helpful if they need to use the patents in an offensive—or defensive—strategy.”