Whether you are a lender or a borrower, it is important to assess the risks and opportunities of using IP as collateral. A thorough due diligence review of the borrower-owned or licensed IP rights can achieve this. Where does one begin? The IP Cheat Sheet was created to answer that very question.
Developed by the Intellectual Property Financing Subcommittee of the Commercial Finance Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), the subcommittee unveiled the IP Cheat Sheet during the CLE Program "The Secured Lender's IP Cheat Sheet: Intellectual Property Due Diligence Done Right" presented at the American Bar Association's Business Law Spring 2024 meeting. With the permission of the ABA, you can download the IP Cheat Sheet below.
A Special thanks to George Giampuranis for assisting in the concept and design.
Once the due diligence is done and SMEs are in a position to leverage their intellectual property as collateral, they can then seek funding opportunities. For more insight on how SMEs can use IP as collateral to obtain financing, you can listen to my recent podcast recorded with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, here, Episode 34 How to Use IP for Financing.