Today as more opportunities are created through IoT, we are seeing traditional hardware companies, whose intellectual property (IP) was the hardware that it manufactured, increasingly seeing the value in software and, in turn, changing their whole business and IP strategies to fit in with the new era. However, IP, hardware or software, is only as good as its protection and the business’ ability to successfully monetise it. Our recent research revealed that despite nearly nine out of 10 organisations admitting they are worried their software may become compromised, many are still not taking the threat seriously with over half (52%) leaving themselves vulnerable to IP theft by not using software IP protection tools.

IP is the life blood of each and every business – it makes them unique in today’s increasingly competitive environment – and that’s why awareness days such as World Intellectual Property Day are so important. It’s imperative that businesses understand the consequences that can occur if their IP is not protected.