Our intellectual property (IP) investigations team has experience in helping clients to value and enforce their intellectual property rights in a range of contexts – transactions, licensing, tax planning, financial reporting and  regulatory reviews, as well as disputes.

As a licensor of valuable IP rights, you may have concerns that you don’t have visibility over your licensees.  If any of the following statements apply to you, it is possible that your royalty or licensing income may be understated:

• You have been collecting royalties that differ significantly from projected amounts;
• You deal with companies in jurisdictions that are less strict about IP laws; or
• You have been experiencing fluctuations in royalty income and receiving royalty reports that have changed in format or content.

Our investigations experience suggests that 80% of licensees reported royalty payments were incorrect, with mis-payments amounting to between 8% and 45% of reported amounts.  The incorrect payments identified by Deloitte exceeded engagement fees more than 90% of the time.

Who we are 
Our experienced team provides expert and commercial advice across a wide range of industries, which can help you to carry out comprehensive IP investigations and maximise value from licensing arrangements.
Our global network covers over 140 countries; enabling us to call on appropriate local resource with the relevant language and investigations skills and cultural awareness, to staff your investigations.

What we do 
Our skill set covers a wide range of IP rights across industries, including:

• Pharmaceutical patents;
• Copyrighted content in the media industry;
• Trade marked consumer brands; and
• Technological patents and trade secrets.

How we can help
Our IP investigations team conduct royalty investigations on behalf of licensors to help assess the completeness of licensing income returns.  We also work with licensees to help quantify their potential exposure or rebut allegations of royalty underpayments.

Our wider team regularly advises on valuation and financial reporting issues surrounding intangible assets, and our IP due diligence investigations team can help maximise the income derived from IP rights prior to a business sale.  In cases of IP theft or counterfeiting activity, our forensic technology specialists can investigate and evidence the trail of IP leakage, be it external or internal.

Find out more about royalty investigations.

Key contact
Elizabeth Gutteridge, Partner, Forensic and Dispute Services, 020 7936 3000.