Whenever you acquire a new company or you enter a new company, you are kind of bumped into the extent of the IP portfolio, meaning trademarks, designs, copyright, eventually patents.

And you can feel that there is something not working, something imprecise, maybe some duplication of the trademarks, maybe some jurisdictions which are empty. Well, this is exactly the right moment and when to do a portfolio rationalization.

It usually all starts with the data verification so you verify where you have coverage, how much or how many trademarks you have, which classes, which owners. And then, believe me or not, you will see that there is quite a lot of duplication and, surprise surprise, also a lot of jurisdictions where you might have missed trademark protection or design or copyright.

Well, that’s exactly what a rationalization does, meaning cutting those old trademarks which are no longer needed, no longer do, and freeing resources, freeing space and freeing also money to cover all the space in places and jurisdictions where you do not have any rights. So a very nice cleanup.