Assess before it is tested
An audit done ahead of a deal or launch converts hidden exposure into known facts — priced and addressed on your timeline, not the counterparty's.
PRACTICE · INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
IP Consulting
Strategic counsel on the intellectual property behind a business — portfolio audits, IP due diligence for financings and acquisitions, freedom-to-operate considerations, and brand and IP strategy. The work is advisory: we assess what you own, what you can use, and where the gaps sit, before a deal or a launch tests them.
- Discipline
- Intellectual Property
- Engagement
- Strategic IP advisory
- Counsel
- Christopher Moye
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Assess before it is tested
An audit done ahead of a deal or launch converts hidden exposure into known facts — priced and addressed on your timeline, not the counterparty's.
The problem
Most IP problems surface at the worst moment — in a diligence request, a financing, or a freedom-to-operate question raised right before launch.
By then the gaps are expensive: ownership that was never assigned in writing, registrations that do not match the products, third-party rights nobody cleared, a brand strategy that grew without a plan. An IP assessment done in advance turns those surprises into known facts — priced into the deal and addressed before they cost you a negotiating position.
Principles · 01
How we draft the matter.
Every engagement is composed against these commitments. They shape the protections we add, the questions we ask, and the document that leaves the file.
Strategy ties to the business
IP advice is only useful when it maps to what the business is doing — the products shipping, the deal in motion, the markets being entered — not an abstract portfolio.
Advisory stays distinct from filing
We assess, prioritize, and recommend; where a filing is the answer, we coordinate it as separate work, so the counsel and the prosecution stay clearly delineated.
What we watch · 02
What can break the matter.
These are the terms, structures, and practical risks that usually decide whether the work holds when the file is tested.
FOUNDERGC
Portfolio audit and ownership
An inventory of registrations, assignments, and trade secrets measured against actual use — confirming the business owns and controls what it relies on.
GCENTERPRISE
Deal and financing diligence
IP due diligence for acquisitions and financings — confirming title, clearing third-party and open-source issues, and flagging what a counterparty will examine.
FOUNDERCMO
Freedom-to-operate and brand strategy
Assessment of known third-party rights before a launch, plus the brand and IP strategy that guides what to protect and how the portfolio should grow.
The work · 03
Four steps. One engagement.
Each step is concrete; each step has a deliverable. The scope is defined, the matter moves, and the file closes.
- 01
Inventory and scope
We inventory the IP and define the question the engagement answers — a deal, a financing, a launch, or a portfolio in need of direction — before any assessment.
- 02
Assessment
We examine ownership, registration status, license and open-source obligations, and known third-party rights, and identify where the portfolio has gaps.
- 03
Findings and strategy
We report the findings in plain terms and set a prioritized strategy — what to protect, what to clear, and what to address before the deal or launch.
- 04
Coordination
Where the strategy calls for filings or agreements, we coordinate or refer that work so it stays distinct from the advisory, and revisit the plan as the business changes.
Proof
What stands behind the work.
What stands behind the work — credentials and representative engagements, stated plainly.
IP advisory matters are handled by Christopher Moyé, Esq., who authors the firm's published writing on intellectual property.
IP portfolio audits, due diligence for financings and acquisitions, freedom-to-operate assessment, and brand and IP strategy.
Every engagement begins with an inventory of the IP and the questions the deal or launch will raise, so the advice is grounded in the actual portfolio.
Common questions
Questions clients ask.
Plain answers to the questions that come up most. If yours is not here, send the facts — we answer in writing.
- What is an IP audit, and when do I need one?
- An IP audit is a structured inventory of what a business owns and controls — registrations, ownership records, license terms, and trade secrets — measured against what it actually uses. It is most useful before a financing, an acquisition, or a major launch, when someone else is about to examine the same assets. We surface the gaps while there is still time to close them.
- What does IP due diligence in a deal involve?
- On the buy side, it confirms the target actually owns what it claims, that the rights are properly assigned, and that no third-party claims or open-source obligations undermine the value. On the sell side, it prepares the portfolio so diligence runs cleanly. We assess the record and flag the issues; the deal terms and price are decisions for you and your advisors.
- What is freedom to operate, and can you guarantee it?
- Freedom to operate is an assessment of whether a product or service can be brought to market without infringing third-party rights you are aware of. It is informed judgment, not a guarantee — it cannot account for every unpublished application or unasserted right, and we do not represent that any product is free of all risk. What it does is identify known obstacles so you can design around them or clear them deliberately.
- How is this different from filing trademarks or patents?
- Filing work secures specific registrations. Consulting is the layer above it — deciding which assets to protect, where the portfolio has gaps, what a deal will scrutinize, and how the brand and IP strategy should develop. Where the assessment points toward a filing, we coordinate that work or refer it, so the advisory and the filing stay distinct.
- Will an IP audit increase the value of my company?
- We do not promise that, and value depends on many factors outside an audit. What an assessment can do is make the IP legible — documenting ownership, closing gaps, and removing the uncertainty that often discounts a portfolio in diligence. Whether that affects a valuation is a question for the deal, not something we represent in advance.
ASSESS THE ASSET BEFORE THE DEAL
Understand the IP before it is tested.
Bring the portfolio you are building on, the deal you are diligencing, or the launch you are clearing. We audit what you own, assess what you can use, and map where the strategy needs to go next.
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