Protecting and exploiting ideas is crucial for success in business, and firms intent on maximising their potentials will do well to consider how Top 200 companies set about it, says Alex Shiel.

ONE of the first things to strike you about this Top 200 is the sheer diversity of businesses which have risen to the challenging times and continued to be successful.

However, they all have something in common.

Each has developed a way to use the value of the ideas they have generated – their intellectual property – to further their businesses and expand their companies.

While providing a handy term to describe this process, intellectual property is not a “one size fits all” thing, but an asset which all businesses choose to employ in different ways to suit their particular business, their development and the business model they have chosen to adopt.

For example, for many manufacturing companies such as Wellstream and Grundfos, investment in patenting technology is of prime importance. But for a software company like Sage, securing and using copyright is a priority.

And for other businesses, particularly those selling to consumer audiences such as Greggs and Fenwick, investing in trademarks and other forms of brand protection are important to help them distinguish themselves from their competitors in the marketplace.

Companies also need to take into account the international dimension when it comes to protecting their intellectual property.

The vast array of different markets across the globe offers fantastic potential for businesses to sell their goods and services, whether directly or via agents or licensing agreements.

However, combined with the way that developments in technology have shrunk the world, this profusion of territories also offers much greater scope for ideas to be copied and sold on by those who have put in no time and effort to develop them.

As a result, the need to protect your intellectual property fully across the world is more important than ever, particularly for leading companies such as those in the Top 200.

Such major players often develop a whole portfolio of trade marks across a number of different territories, and these portfolios need regular monitoring to ensure they are not infringed.

There are, unfortunately, numerous examples of businesses that have not adequately protected their intellectual property in overseas territories where they have been doing business, and have seen other companies using their branding and technology.

In some cases, UK companies have even found themselves unable to use their own brand name in those countries as their overseas partners have registered that brand to themselves in those territories.

Maintaining and protecting a brand overseas is not simple. The challenge is to keep up with all the emerging markets around the world, and to understand the different legal systems that apply to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

However, since ideas are the lifeblood of any successful enterprise, keeping a handle on their intellectual property should be a key priority of every company in the Top 200 - and of those who want to break into that illustrious list.

:: Alex Shiel is partner and head of intellectual property and IT at law firm Ward Hadaway