The term ‘intellectual property rights strategy’ is sometimes used synonymously with,  and considered to be part of, an overarching strategy for managing the company’s intangible assets, also known as an IP strategy. Intellectual property rights cover the following intellectual property rights:  patents, trademark protection, design protection and copyright. An intellectual property rights strategy helps the entrepreneur to manage these intangible assets in a professional manner, in order to maximise the commercial benefits. Questions which you could ask yourself regarding your intellectual property rights strategy include: What innovations can we apply for a patent for? Do we have patents which can be licensed out or sold? Are there any patents which we should purchase? How should we use our other intellectual property rights? How can we commercialise them and make money? What protection does our trademark need? Should we apply for design protection for any products? What markets do we need to protect: Sweden, EU or perhaps a global protection? How do we defend our copyrights? 

A good intellectual property rights strategy should include both an analysis of competitors and an analysis of risks, and take into account the company’s long-term commercial objectives. An intellectual property rights strategy can also include a plan which sets out the extent to which and the way in which the company is prepared to defend its intellectual property rights in the event of infringement, e.g. pirate copying of one of the company’s products or the unlawful use of copyright-protected material. Many consultants within the field of intellectual property rights have a business concept of helping companies to draw up an intellectual property rights strategy and provide services which include applying for, acquiring, maintaining and defending a company’s intellectual property rights. 

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