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Trade Secrets As Collateral: A United States Perspective

Scott Lebson Traditional intellectual property assets, i.e., those capable of registration with a central governmental authority such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, are particularly valuable because they enable companies to create and hold monopoly power on unique products and services. Key intellectual property rights can provide owners with significant business advantages by allowing, for example, the creation of specialized goods that are capable of generating high profit margins. In fact, the driving force behind many of the mergers and acquisitions completed during the past decade has been the acquirer's desire to obtain the target's intellectual property assets. Now more than ever, the full financial potential of intellectual property is being realized as an additional source of funding to facilitate research and development, acquisitions and other commercial transactions. Companies seeking additional sources of capital, lenders, venture capitalists and other members of the investment community are increasingly looking beyond a company's traditional, nationally registered intellectual property rights and recognizing the growing value in trade secrets, know-how and other non-registrable intangible rights. As secured transactions continue to player a greater role in extracting additional value from intellectual property rights, securitization of trade secrets has become a more widely recognized and necessary practice.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).