Home featured Featured Growing Legal Featured Is this really all mine? Intellectual property explained Mike Lloyd March 17, 2010 A quick question for any business owner: how much is your business worth on the market today? Next question: what is the book value of your business, as according to your accountant? Now what is the difference between the two? In particular, is the market value of your business much greater than the book value? If so, why is this? A common answer to this question is that much of the market value of your business is due to the reputation, know-how and business methods you use. Reputation, know-how and business methods are really just another way of saying the intellectual property (IP) of your business. In other words, whether you have recognised this or not, you may be the owner of some valuable IP. And if you are a significant owner of IP, you naturally want to manage your IP to maximise its value. The first step towards achieving this is to conduct an IP audit. An IP audit can be simpler than it sounds. IP will exist in a number of forms, and essentially needs to be recorded in lists or schedules. Types of IP can include: Brand names, trade marks and domain names. Businesses should have a register (or schedule) of the brands and trade marks that they have developed and commercialised. Ideally, this register should note when the brand was first used and some proof of this,