Author: Rachel Triplow
Published: 7 July 2021
Pages: 28

Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) law is an area of law that is frequently misunderstood and/or dismissed by business owners as an expensive and/or complicated distraction from getting on with running their business. However, since the 1990s, the average value of intangible assets in businesses has gone from less than half of its value to more than 90%, so it’s crucial to be putting more thought into these assets.
Failure to do so can lead to anything from lost revenue opportunities to litigation to liquidation of a business without realisation of a business’ greatest assets.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how to develop a strategy for identifying and securing ownership of IP and enforce your (clients’) rights in New Zealand, including working examples and a roundup of recent decisions.

Content outline

• Developing an intellectual property strategy
• Intellectual property’s place in contracts
• Key lessons from recent decisions
• Legislative changes