More than three-fourths of intellectual property executives and consultants reported that their companies’ total legal or business budget stayed flat or decreased in 2010, according to Foley & Lardner’s inaugural IP Leadership Survey.
The survey, which was released on Oct. 5, is based on August responses from 75 intellectual property executives, advisers and consultants. Nearly half, or 46 percent, said their companies’ legal or business budgets stayed the same. About one-third, or 32 percent, reported a dip in these budgets. More than one-fifth, or 22 percent, of respondents said the amounts climbed this year compared with 2009.
Although many companies in the intellectual property space have the same or higher legal spending, the rest are simply doing more with less, said Jeanne Gills, vice-chairwoman of Foley & Lardner’s national intellectual property department.
Companies are increasingly strategic about their intellectual property spending, particularly about foreign patent application filings, Gills said.
Years ago, companies would automatically file in a set group of other countries every time they filed a U.S. patent application, Gills said. Now they consider the risks of not filing and how to measure the risks against the investment. “There is more deliberate discussion [about these questions] than ever before,” Gills said.
The survey respondents report that the economic downturn hasn’t dampened their companies’ focus on protecting their intellectual property. Most, or 93 percent, view intellectual property as equally important or more important than it was before the downturn.
via Law.com – IP Professionals Try to Do More With Less, Particularly for Patent Filings.
