Our approach

Cripps is a leading national law firm with specialist lawyers who can help you carry out an Intellectual Property (IP) audit.

Scroll down to see what’s covered and the further benefits of carrying out an IP audit.

If you’d like us to assist with an IP audit, just let us know here.

Intellectual Property is often misunderstood but is one of the most important assets a business will have.

For those businesses who have not considered the topic of intellectual property before, or who have not focussed their attention on it for a while, we highly recommend carrying out an IP audit.

Alternatively, a business may have a particular question about intellectual property rights in a certain product and/or service which it sells and/or uses which they would like to understand more fully and confirm that all intellectual property rights are appropriately owned, protected and/or licensed. An IP audit is a great way of looking at the business holistically and getting a joined up view of how a company’s IP is structured and protected.

IP audits should be performed regularly and periodically (in advance of the rollout of new products or services should be a key trigger) as no successful business stands still and so its intellectual property will change and evolve with it.

What is an IP audit

An IP audit is a systematic review of the assets owned, used or acquired by a business.

All businesses create, own and/or license some form of intellectual property (IP), whether they realise it or not. The term itself covers a wide variety of rights including copyright, trade marks, design rights and patents, to name a few. How much IP a business has will depend on the nature of the business in question but generally speaking those with a technology focus and/or creative element will generate a significant amount of IP. IP is often misunderstood but it can be the most important assets a business will have. What are the benefits of an IP audit?

Some of the benefits of an IP audit include:

  • Confirming that all IP rights are appropriately owned, protected and/or licensed – this can provide peace of mind and confidence going forward;
  • Gaining a clear picture of your IP portfolio and imperfections (if any) to understand more about a certain product and/or service which you sell and/or use;
  • Uncovering under-utilised IP which can then be used and capitalised on by the business going forward;
  • Devising and/or improving policies and procedures to ensure key IP is maintained and protected;
  • Enabling enforcement of your IP rights and to protect its market and profits;
  • Understanding where possible risks may arise and to give the business a chance to take steps to minimise those risks; and
  • Putting the business in a better position to attract buyers and investors.

Prospective buyers and investors will be keen to know the IP is owned correctly and/or that the business has all relevant permissions from third party rights holders to use it. In addition, their confidence will be bolstered if the business can show there are policies and procedures in place to ensure IP is captured

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Legal 500 2025