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Your Company Does Have the Resources to Hire Seasoned In-House IP Business Counsel

In today's business world, forward-thinking business leaders at small and mid-sized companies understand that they must develop and deploy IP strategies that will grow their company's intangible asset base. As an IP Strategist and owner of an IP strategy and consulting service (more info here: www.jackiehutter.com), I know that to accomplish this bold objective, the first question must necessarily be whether the company should hire someone as permanent in-house IP counsel, or whether they engage outside IP counsel on an ongoing basis. Regardless of which option they choose (and they realize they must choose), the result for the company is significant expense in the form of headcount cost and/or outside counsel legal expense. Let's assume that your company has decided to take the plunge and engage either in-house or outside counsel to direct and deploy a business-focused IP strategy. How do you know who to hire if you know little

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Intellectual Property Strategy Consultants: A New Model for the Small to Mid-Size Corporation

As a business leader in a small to mid-sized corporation, you know that businesses such as yours are increasingly looking toward intellectual property as a means to generate assets. This is not surprising because it is estimated that less than 15 % or greater of your corporation’s value today is situated in its tangible assets. (See for example, http://www.ipfrontline.com/depts/article.asp?id=3674&deptid=3) Not all of this intangible value is located in your patents, off course. Indeed, your corporation may not even own any patents today. But if your organization extracts measurable value from proprietary technology or products, corporate value is heavily reliant on your patent and intellectual property strategy. That is, if your corporation’s technology and/or products are valuable, another company is likely to want a piece of the action, which, will result in erosion of your sales and profits. If this is the case for your corporation, you may be wondering