Intellectual property has significantly risen up the corporate agenda in recent years. With more advanced intelligence and technologies becoming available in the market that have globally attracted the attention of major business players and the consumer market, more and more businesses look to invest in the development technologies such as artificial intelligence, automated vehicles, mobile devices and many more within their own businesses. 

The IP game has heated up. More than ever IP departments need to ensure that they are providing strategic direction to their research and development, but how to achieve this on a global scale? With uncertainty over regulations caused by geo-political turbulence, it is ever more challenging to identify new opportunities while avoiding any unforeseen risk. Certainly, advances in analytics and business intelligence provides a promising route for Chief IP Counsels looking to track their competitors movements and discover new opportunities. However, it is apparent that over the past five years investment in IP strategy and innovation consultants has been unstable. 

The Facts and Figures

Ahead of the Global IP Exchange this March, we analysed the last five years of investment in IP strategy and Innovation Consultants to see where the trend is likely to go before 2025. 

We surveyed 100 of the leading Chief IP Counsels, Heads, Directors and SVPs of IP over the past five years. Back in 2015, 73% surveyed said they were looking to invest in IP Strategy and Innovation Consultants in the next six to twelve months. However, in 2016 we saw a sharp decrease in the investment of this solution. 62% were looking to invest in these services back in 2016 and this only marginally increased in 2017. Although competition for emerging technologies and innovations was fierce back then, restricted budgets stunted strategic IP investments and further fell to its lowest recorded value of 56% in 2018. Despite continued budget restraints, we are already seeing a marked increase in the investment of IP strategy and innovation consultants in 2019. A dramatic increase of 79% of those surveyed highlighted this as a high priority investment area for the year ahead. As many companies start to realise the value of investing in IP, we expect this to only increase further.

The Conclusion

Embarking on new product innovations can be daunting. Although they provide unlocked potential and new revenue streams, they can be risky in such competitive landscapes. IP strategy and innovation consultants can provide the perfect solution. Greater understanding of the overall business goals teamed up with the expert knowledge of how to align this with the overall IP has already proven to be vital in todays climate. By taking on resource when undergoing a large scale project, they have also demonstrated significant reduction in the cost of IP departments and with some also incorporating business intelligence and analytics to lift the strategy to an even higher level of excellence. Inevitably, propelling IP departments out of the traditional ‘cost’ department of past times. So with the time ticking down on the innovation race, will you explore IP strategy and Innovation consultants can play in securing the future success of your business’s latest enterprises? 

Discover the full IP investment report for 2019 here.

If you would like to find out more about how we have helped form new partnerships between those heading up the IP department and IP Strategy and Innovation Consultants, get in touch today at exchangeinfo@iqpc.com