How to Profit From Intellectual Assets You May Not Know You Have

Do you remember the old playground taunt "Finders, keepers; Losers, weepers?" This old saying has a fresh new slant for small business owners in today's business world when it comes to the management of their intellectual assets.

Our biggest corporations have always hovered over their copyrights, their trademarks and their licensing agreements, protecting them through legal means. This can be just as profitable for companies that aren't that big if you'll look carefully at your processes and then learn how to promote and protect them like the big boys.

Intellectual asset (property) management is not just about hot new products; it can be about the innovative new ideas that take your existing services and good to a new level. It's all a matter of "finders, keepers," which can be just as easy for the smallest firms to play as it is for the largest.

For all the years you've been in business, has there been some product or process that's been improved on for the traditional marketing of your goods? Did your office assistant come up with a new "Eureka!" about how to keep tabs on customer (client) habits? Did you add two new steps to a production process that created more cost-efficiencies?

Look deeper. Is the way your service or product brand worth protecting? Can it become a profit generator by co-branding with another company? Inc. magazine in its May editions cited the case of Starbucks licensing its name to Jim Beam for a new liqueur, and Harley-Davidson partnering with Coca-Cola to reap millions of dollars in royalties from products incorporating both names.

Is what you know innovative (different) and would it be valuable to someone else? Did you say yes? You can certainly learn how to protect your assets and profit from this, or you'll have to hazard a chance of becoming one of the "losers, weepers."

Four additional tips to keep in mind:

1. Industry reports cite the growing number of Intellectual Property (IP) lawyers courting small firms instead of traditional big business clients. Go to Google.com and type in "IP lawyers" along with your state or city's name. Some IP law firm Web sites carry free articles on IP trends.

2. If you're in the development stage of an innovative new process, idea or product, and have employed outside help, consider the use of a confidentially agreement, or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), to protect your asset from the start. One smart article on how NDAs work is at About.com, a product of the New York Times Co., at http://management.about.com/cs/ipandpatents/a/NDA062199.htm?p=1.

3. Don't let your assets loose, even inadvertently, through outgoing emails. Sandhills Publishing Company's www.processing.com shares safeguards for your outgoing email procedures at www.processor.com/mirapoint-Inc.

4. Consider an outside sleuth to help you find your hidden intellectual assets. Have you ever enlisted the help of a friend to help you find a misplaced item? Invariably, you'll hear, "Well, there it is, right in front of your nose." Outside consultants with keen expertise and sharp insights into how to spot potential intellectual assets can prove exponentially more valuable to your bottom line than that sharp-eyed friend.

Article Source: http://www.a1-articledirectory.com

About Ruth Klein: Marketing Strategist and Productivity Coach, Speaker and Author Ruth Klein is the owner of the award-winning boutique firm, The Marketing/Time Source, and a top consultant to clients ranging from solo entrepreneurs to the Fortune 500. For more information about her best-selling books, popular seminars and newsletter, visit www.ruthklein.com.

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