IP Audit is Central to M&A

January 5, 2012

Valuation of IP in M&A

An IP audit is an essential criterion that should be fulfilled in all M&A as it helps in gaining insight on the information pertaining to creation, maintenance, valid- ity, strength, use and challenges, if any, to Intellectual Property Rights.

 

Over the years, develop- ment of IP has caused an upward swing in the eco- nomic and financial devel-opment of the nation, and an upsurge in research, development and tech- nological capacity of both developed and developing countries. The intan- gible capital is rightfully touted as the most powerful asset of the company. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) pro- tection and enforcement lays the foun- dation of a company’s dominance in the market, and is a source of continu- ing profitability for it.

While mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remain an aspect of corporate strategy dealing with buying, selling, dividing and combining entities that would help the enterprise grow, the IP is undoubtedly a significant considera- tion affecting takeovers in high end in- dustries. Patents, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights and other IP assets owned by an organi- zation often make it a lucrative target for acquisition. Thus, before acquiring any firm, a complete “SWOT” analysis should be conducted to determine its inherent and profound technologies,resources, licensing opportunities, infringement and opposition possibilities and threats from competitors.

 

Why an IP audit is necessary?

It is estimated that if Coca-Cola happens to lose all its tangible and physical assets, the brand name “Coca-Cola” and other IP assets would be valuable enough to en- able positive cash flow within one year. It is crucial for financial executives, advis- ers and accountants to comprehend and understand that transfer of intellectual property is an essential aspect of all major transactions and should be audited.

Like its financial counterpart, the due diligence investigation and IP audit helps in amassing necessary information required to understand the business and market of the firm. A good audit would not only ascertain validity and reliability of information but would also help identify the real worth of IP assets. Funda- mentally, an IP audit is an essential criterion that should be fulfilled in all M&A as it helps in gaining insight on the information pertaining to creation, mainte- nance, validity, strength, use and challenges, if any, to IP rights.

What is to be considered in an IP audit?

It is imperative to undertake a comprehensive review of the company’s IP assets, relevant  agreements  and  compliance  procedures  before  any  M&A.  The  classic case of Volkswagen-BMW-Rolls Royce signifies the importance of conducting an IP audit when a company contemplates acquiring or merging with another firm. In a bidding deal in 1998, Volkswagen paid millions of dollars to purchase the ownership of Rolls Royce and Bentley automobile assets, only to realize that it owned everything necessary to make Rolls Royce except   the rights to use the Rolls  Royce  trademark.  BMW  on  the  other  hand,  succeeded  in  procuring  the use  of  the  Rolls  Royce  trademark.  Thus  technically,  while  Volkswagen  owned the  machinery,  the  brand  was  owned  by  BMW.  However  both  the  companies later reached an agreement that allowed Volkswagen  to  use  the  said  trademark till 2002.

Some of the important questions that should be considered in an IP audit are:

● The intangible assets owned or pro- tected by the firm and their legal status;
●The value of the IPR owned by the firm and the risk associated with it;
●How the company manages its IP portfolio, including policies related to internet and security, and who all are responsible for its management;
●Whether the company has disclosed its know-how, trade secrets or other IP to someone;
●The measures taken by the company for creating, maintaining and pro- tecting its IP assets;
●Accessing licensing, sub-licensing, cross-licensing issues affecting the IP rights;
●The financial, commercial and legal risks linked to a target company’s IP portfolio;

●Whether the company is infringing on someone’s IP portfolio or if its assets are infringed upon by a third party;

●Detailed account of circumstances surrounding infringement, if any;

●Measures taken by the company to prevent IP infringement, and its pol- icies for the same;

●Employee contracts including Non Disclosure Agreement;

●Detailed account of past, present and potential litigations, includ- ing the litigation suits filed by and against the company.

 

IP assets owned by the organization and their valuation

The company’s rich IP portfolio is an indispensable asset. A trademark, for instance, if properly registered and protected, can provide tremendous worth to the company. It is estimated that the value of the “Apple” brand is almost half of its market capitaliza- tion. Therefore if a company is valued, as in M&A, its intangible assets must also be valued. The acquisition on the other hand may either be driven by a motive to acquire a company’s tech- nology or IP, or both. The success sto- ry of the acquisition of Thums Up by Coca Cola and the capitalization of the “Thums Up” brand name by the latter in its market share against Pepsi bears testimony to the value of intangible properties. Acquisition of the Crocin brand by SmithKline Beecham and purchase of the Uncle Chipps brand by Ruffles Lays, are other examples of a company’s interest in buying a brand name rather than its physical assets.

 

Brand building is a long and arduous process that involves significant invest- ments and risks, thus the acquisition of a reputed brand would help a company gain significant market share. The typi- cal IP assets that a company owns and should be audited are delineated below:

 

Patents:

The patent auditing should encompass determination of the patent  owned  by the firm as well as the application for patent filed in native and foreign countries. It is very important to de- termine the compliance with laws of another country in case an application for patent is filed abroad. The auditor should also note that mere filing does not guarantee the grant of patent and a company may file a large number of patents only to attract acquisition.

Appropriate search should be conducted to verify if the patent has actually been reg- istered in the name of the target company.

The FTO analysis and patent mapping should be done to determine patent- ability of the invention, and in case of granted patent, the same would help in ascertaining  if the subject  matter of the patent is  infringing  other  inventions or if there is any likelihood of opposi- tion. This will also help in determining whether the granted patent would en- able the acquirer to keep the rivals and competitors out of the market.

It is also pertinent to ascertain if the company has been paying regular annu- ities or royalty in case of any licensing.

 

Copyrights:

Copyrights are important in media, entertainment and the software indus- try. Though registration of copyright is not mandatory, it is prima facie proof of ownership in case of any dispute. Thus it should be ascertained what all copyright is owned by the company or whether permission from the author/ creator of the copyrighted work has been secured in case the company does not own the rights for the same. It is also important to determine the work that can be protected by copyright.

 

Trademarks and Trade Secrets:

Auditing should be conducted to deter- mine the trademarks actually owned and registered by the firm, and to determine what all trademarks can be protected under the ambit of the Trademarks Act.

It would be wise to determine the strength of the trademark and the dis- tinctness it has acquired over a period of time. It should also be determined whether the trademark has been pro- tected in all of the desired classes.

It should also be ascertained if marks have been applied in other countries and renewal fees are paid on time.

The auditor should also determine if the trademark used by the firm is licensed by a third party or the company itself has licensed others to use its Trade- mark. The terms and conditions deline- ated in all license agreements should be properly evaluated and audited.

Auditing should also be conducted to determine if the company has taken adequate measures to protect its trade secrets, including technical know-how, advertising plans, customer details, fi- nancial statements and bank details.

 

Domain Names:

With the advent, globalization and rapid commercialization of the inter- net, domain names have become sig- nificant business identifiers. Auditing should thus be conducted to determine if the trademarks owned by the firm are registered, and domain names are renewed regularly. It should also be ascertained whether the domain name is being misused or squatted by others.

 

Industrial Designs:

This includes auditing of all design regis- tered and capable of being registered with the Patent Office. It should also be ascer- tained whether registered design is renewed or is worth renewing for another five years.

 

Agreements:

In addition to the above mentioned IP rights, auditing of all the agreements, including the Employee agreement, Non Disclosure Agreement, Licensing and Assignment, Contracts and Joint Ven- ture should be conducted. This would help in ascertaining if all the require- ments have been complied with or not, the ownership of rights in case of col- laborative research and in case if an em- ployee has developed something during his tenure in the firm but is now a part of different organization. Licenses given to third parties should also be checked to ensure that IPR has not been assigned to them due to improper wording of li- cense agreement. The auditing of license agreement also helps in determining any geographical or time limit.

 

Auditing steps involved in M&A

  • Ensure that the company owns an IPR, and in case if any of the IPR is licensed to it, then such a license should be
  • The status of all the pending appli- cations for IPR protection should be determined to ensure the chances of its grant or registration. The conflicting applications filed by the third parties should also be determined
  • Legal counsel should be  sought  to determine if the IPR owned by the firm is infringing someone else’s rights or if any other entity  is claiming interest in IP rights owned by the
  • Ascertain whether any governmen- tal approval is necessary in exploi- tation of the
  • The security agreements, licenses and contracts should be thorough- ly

 

Conclusion:

IPR has played a crucial role in mak- ing smaller companies climb up the value chain as extensive research con- ducted by them to develop the latest technology enables them to compete with larger, more successful and es- tablished companies. The intangible assets have become drivers behind significant mergers and acquisitions in an essentially knowledge and infor- mation based economy and their role is expected to become all the more im- portant going forward. The IP audit is thus, a valuable tool for both potential targets and buyers as it helps in for- mulating efficient business strategies and evaluating assets owned by the firm. The underlying essence of busi- ness ethics, “if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it” aptly high- lights and sums-up the relevance of an IP audit.

 

 

Disclaimer:

The article intends to provide general infor- mation only and should not be taken as legal advice or opinion related to specific situations. Every possible effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the information contained in the article but the author cannot be held responsi- ble for any misrepresentation or inaccuracy.

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