Are you protecting your intellectual property?

Engineers are employed for their ideas and ingenuity. Patents protect their inventions or programs. Accountants are rapidly becoming aware of the value of all such intellectual property rights (IPRs), even to the extent of a few forward looking companies putting IPRs on their balance sheet as assets. The author describes some of the legal ramifications involved in ensuring this intellectual property is adequately protected. The author describes software patents, business method patents, patent costs and valuation of IPRs.