This article was written by ipervescence in collaboration with Davies Collison Cave. ipervescence is a joint venture between its Managing Principals and QANTM Intellectual Property Limited.

Meet ipervescence – Qantm's IP business advisory firm. It helps businesses deal with IP as a business tool, aligned to strategic objectives and across organisational structures.

Davies Collison Cave Managing Principal, Michael Wolnizer speaks to the co-founders, Karen Hallenstein and Jane Perrier about their services and how they help businesses create value.

The passion behind ipervescence

Michael: Welcome to the Qantm family! Can you tell us a bit about ipervescence and why you founded this business?

ipv: Absolutely! We started ipervescence (which, by the way, is pronounced so that 'ip' rhymes with 'hip'!) because we are both passionate about IP and feel that IP is an untapped resource for many businesses. We wanted to help re-imagine the way they engage with IP as a valuable asset, and not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

We both worked in-house at Telstra for a long time, and that helped give us an appreciation of the ways that IP can drive competitive advantage and growth, and the importance of having effective business frameworks in place to leverage that value and mitigate risk. We believe there is an opportunity for IP to make a broader contribution to sustained business success. Whilst there are excellent providers of IP legal and attorney services around, (such as DCC), we felt there was a gap in the market for IP business advisory services, such as IP strategy services at an enterprise level.

IP strategy

Michael: Great segue! Tell us more about enterprise level IP strategy services – what exactly does that mean?

ipv: Let's start by explaining what we don't mean! An enterprise level IP strategy isn't about where to file your patent, or the scope of goods and services for a trade mark – that's the kind of advice that attorney firms, like DCC would provide. IP strategy at an enterprise level focuses on IP as a material business asset (like finance or real estate). It ensures that IP is integrated into a business' strategic planning and decision making to maximise its contribution to the bottom line and mitigate associated risks.

To give you an idea of how we might work with a client – we start by looking at the client's enterprise strategy – what are the key commercial objectives of the business? In many organisations, there is limited line of sight between IP assets and strategic decision making. This can make it difficult to assess the value of the IP to the business, identify key areas of contribution and measure return on investment. Given that IP is often a business' most valuable asset, failing to effectively leverage it to optimise commercial objectives is a missed opportunity.

We work with clients to develop frameworks that drive alignment between IP and enterprise strategy. We do this by asking questions such as:

  • what percentage of your material business assets are IP?
  • what value does IP contribute to your business objectives?
  • how effectively are you leveraging that value?
  • how are you mitigating risks associated with that value?

Michael: That sounds interesting and something that would be very valuable to many businesses, particularly as you point out, where IP might be their most valuable asset. In addition to IP strategy, what other services does ipervescence offer?

ipv: In addition to IP strategy, we provide a range of IP business advisory services:

  • IP Risk and Compliance – we help businesses to proactively identify, manage and monitor IP risk and compliance, as part of their approach to enterprise risk management
  • IP Culture and Capability – we work with boards, managers and teams to enhance IP literacy to foster an 'IP mindset'
  • IP Policy and Law Reform – we support the shaping of IP policy and law reform to drive positive outcomes for businesses, for example, by drafting submissions or lobbying on business' behalf
  • Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) – we help clients apply to Austrade for grants relating to eligible expenses, including overseas IP registration and renewal costs
  • IP Valuation – we assist businesses to understand the financial worth of their IP, to assist informed decision making and strategic planning

IP valuation

Michael: IP valuation is an interesting offering. Is it really possible to reliably determine the economic value of IP assets?

ipv: great question! People often think of IP valuation as a bit of a 'dark art'. And with good reason. Traditional valuation methods are not well suited to IP. However, there are recognised methodologies that do reliably and accurately determine the economic worth of intellectual property. Key things to look for when engaging someone to value your IP include:

  • robust methodology suited to intangibles – in particular, a qualitative analysis of the underlying intangible should be included, in addition to traditional quantitative approaches
  • compliance with both accounting standards and recognised international guidance for IP valuation
  • credentials – ideally, a valuation should be conducted by a multi-disciplinary team including experts with credentials in the global finance and investment industry, as well as expertise in the relevant underlying assets.

Michael: I assume that ipervescence's IP valuation service meets all these requirements?

ipv: Absolutely! We use a word class multi-disciplinary team, including a valuation expert with globally recognised credentials and top tier IP experts.

The QANTM connection

Michael: ipervescence is part of the QANTM IP family. Can you explain how your services fit in with those of DCC?

ipv: Yes, ipervescence is a joint venture between QANTM and us. We love being part of a family with a passion for all things IP as well as shared values of excellent customer service. We see our services as highly complementary to those offered by DCC. Whereas DCC offers services to help businesses protect and enforce their IP rights, we help them drive value and mitigate risk from their IP to maximise their enterprise strategy. We believe that a combination of these services optimises business outcomes.

Michael: Jane and Karen – thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and your very obvious passion for IP and ipervescence. I believe that ipervescence is an innovative and disruptive consultancy, helping to change the way businesses engage with IP in a strategic context to deliver real value. We are delighted to have you in the QANTM family and I'm sure our clients will appreciate the opportunity to work with you both, to get the most out of their IP.

This article was written by ipervescence in collaboration with Davies Collison Cave. ipervescence is a joint venture between its Managing Principals and QANTM Intellectual Property Limited.

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