15. Conclusion

Take an optimistic view of the registerability of your IP rights and in particular of the patentability of your inventions.  But take professional advice and don’t waste time and energy pursuing rights where the chances of success are low and the costs high.  Background research is essential.  This can help identify the key technical challenges in your field and focus your innovation effort.  It may also flag freedom-to-operate challenges at an early stage, when the opportunity to design around competitor IP is greater.

Don’t be afraid to take difficult decisions concerning pending applications.  Weigh up possible future costs with the value and chances of success.  Within a fixed IP budget, there may be better ways to spend your money.

Finally, make sure you have the right processes in place, to identify the most valuable IP assets, register these if possible, and manage your IP portfolio.  To do this you need to have internal resources with the right expertise.