Coller IP Management has launched a service that puts an exact figure on just how valuable an organisation’s intellectual property is.
Intellectual property (IP) makes a large but notoriously hard-to-measure contribution to an organisation’s overall value, and Coller’s service contrasts sharply with the more general guidance offered by many IP agencies.
Coller CEO Jackie Maguire told IWR: “Other people will give an opinion but often they sit on the fence and aren’t clear. We give a firm opinion.
“We have had quite a bit of experience helping people take their ideas and inventions to market and we found people need to have a good understanding of IP before they try to set out. If they try to get going without thinking about IP, they come unstuck.”
Engineering companies, for example, can request a valuation of their intellectual capital and decide whether new ideas are sound enough to invest time, effort and money in.
The valuation service looks beyond formal IP such as trademarks and copyright to the wider intellectual capital of an organisation such as the processes it has developed, branding and the value of staff with ideas.
Maguire said the service was for companies at all stages of development, from corporates to one-man bands.
“We do have every small clients, it doesn’t have to be expensive,” she said. “Some large corporates have a large IP portfolio that is out of line with their corporate strategy.”
The service is also aimed at investors who need to understand the key IP issues in a business proposition. They can commission an independent view on the robustness and market attractiveness of the IP portfolio. Coller’s valuations support M&As, IPOs and licensing negotiations.
“We found people in venture capitalists didn’t understand the nuances of the IP they were buying, so we developed valuation and opinion services,” said Maguire.
