Companies don’t have the resources to protect their IP in recessions

A recession impacts the intellectual property (IP) ecosystem in many ways. Some of the major immediate impacts include: I. Reduced budgets allocated: This forces business owners to focus on their core brands markets and makes them less likely to oppose third-party marks or file cancellation actions and possibly even to delay the launch of new brands and/or products. II. Increased spend on technology: It appears that both law firms and the in-house departments increase their spend on technology in times of recession. While law firms tend to do so to increase the efficiency of their work product, the in-house teams appear to do so owing to the budget crisis. III. Changes in staffing: Recessions have an impact on law firm employment and there may be job losses or IP practitioners that leave a firm and may not be replaced. IV. Decline in M&A activity before a recession. However, companies that have the resources to invest may reap benefits as the research shows that companies that make acquisitions during a recession are likely to see better shareholder returns in the long term. In summary, a recession tends to reduce the investment in maintaining and protecting IP assets but leads to greater investment in legal tech to gain efficiency in tough times.