Lanning G. Bryer
Partner, Ladas & Parry LLP, New York, New York, USA

Over the years businesses have come to recognize the enormous economic value of intellectual property rights such as patents designs trademarks and service marks trade secrets and copyrights ( IP Rights ). Innumerable transactions have been structured around the purchase or sale of these valuable assets. Given the stakes involved one might expect that the parties to these transactions would make the necessary investment in time and resources to maintain and regularize title to these IP Rights at the national patent and trademark offices. As discussed below however both Buyers and Sellers often fail to undertake this critical step.