In our experience, founders, engineers and researchers often undervalue what they create because they think the problem that they have solved is trivial or obvious. The thinking being, if something is trivial or obvious, it has no value.
Not only problems solved, but also brands, marketing, websites, these are all sources of value that get overlooked.
The Bar is Lower Than Founders Assume
The gap costing founders and engineers their most IP value: they mistake “we figured this out” for “this was easy,” and assume easy isn’t valuable IP.
This matters most for engineers, because engineers are solving problems constantly. Most of that problem-solving happens quietly, as part of simply making the product work, and never gets flagged as anything more than routine engineering.
There’s a persistent myth that patents are reserved for major breakthroughs, category-defining leaps, the kind of invention that makes headlines. The legal reality sets the bar much lower: a genuine, non-obvious technical solution to a real problem.
Invention Capture
Your organisation is full of talented and creative people and one way to ensure value gets captured is to log problems solved in an invention capture form.
The purpose of the Invention Capture Form is to log problems that have been solved to highlight and provide a record of Intellectual Property created by your organisation.
Every time a problem is solved, no matter how small, an invention may have been created. Any invention may have value, so record each solution even if you view it as insignificant.
Recognising Value
At IP Asset, this is often the first conversation we have with founders, identifying where they are creating value, understanding the thresholds for protections and how this aligns with the wider business strategy whether that is attracting grant funding, investment or exiting.
To discuss where there may be underlying value in your business, speak to the IP Asset team.
Here is Nick on the Oxford Business Insights Podcast, discussing this point.
