Almost everything can constitute or be the result of Intellectual Property. When certain conditions are fulfilled at the time of its creation or disclosure, simple objects whose value is defined by their aesthetic appearance (industrial designs), brands (trademarks), machines or devices that perform technical or technological functions (patents) as well as books and paintings but also databases, software, and music (copyrights) can be protected as Intellectual Property.

In some cases, as it happens for patents, trademarks, or industrial designs, said conditions must be evaluated by a public authority. Such a Patent and Trademark Office will afterward grant a registration certificate conferring the corresponding rights to its originator. In other cases, as it happens for copyrights, Intellectual Property exists for the mere fact of the creation (a song, book, software, database, etc).

Relevant enough, depending on the specific Intellectual Property right obtained, its owner/creator will be granted exclusivity to use it and dispose of it in the market. In general, said exclusivity is granted during a limited period of time. This period will eventually depend on the kind of right and on the geographical scope of protection conferred or obtained.

As a result, during the term of protection, Intellectual Property rights owners can use and exploit their rights. And, most importantly, they can prohibit third parties to use and exploit them at any time. Needless to say that this encloses a huge competitive advantage.

Intellectual Property as a business booster

In a free market, Intellectual Property is a powerful anomaly: it creates monopolies and, therefore, competitive advantages for its owners. The competitive advantage depends on the protectability of the creation. As said, almost everything can be Intellectual Property but not everything can fulfill the conditions to be protected as such.

Once the Intellectual Property right has been established, e.g. by registering the corresponding right before the public authority of the territory of protection, it should also be established whether it can become a competitive advantage for the market sector where its owner is active. Or in the market territory where he wants to participate.

Moreover, the scope of the competitive advantage will be as great as the scope of protection that has been assigned to the concrete right involved. It can be little (e.g. patent protection granted to a slight modification of an existing machine that better performs a certain specific function). Or it can be big enough to exclude all possible competitors from a specific market sector.

Can Intellectual Property help Growth Hackers?

Growth hackers promise fast business growth, using creative and agile techniques. They also push hard on the creation and valorization of businesses assets, if possible, at a low price. However, marketers in general and even growth hackers don’t seem to realize what Intellectual Property actually is, and how they can use itto reach business growth.

Up until this day no growth hacker seriously developed a methodology that combined Intellectual Property with a marketing approach. Put differently, growth hackers never used Intellectual Property as a tool for business acceleration in a marketing context.

This can be explained by several reasons. On the one hand, Intellectual Property expertise has historically been more oriented to the legal sector rather than the marketing one. Very seldom, these two categories of expertise have interacted with each other from the very beginning of the consulting process. On the other hand, Intellectual Property can be a limitation for creative marketers. At the other end of the table, marketing strategies are not the natural habitat of rigid lawyers.

However, it is well known that (potential) Intellectual Property infringements have the power to put completemarketing campaigns at a halt. It is not rare that developers discover a total lack of market fit for theirrevolutionary and unique product. Even when those products materialized in strong Intellectual Property protection.

Combining Intellectual Property and Growth Hacking is a unique step toward a profitable business.

In both of the cases above, early integration of Intellectual Property into the marketing and sales strategy would make a difference. Such a fresh growth hacking technique helps the establishment of successful and fast business growth and, equally important, it enables vast cost savings.

Combining Intellectual Property and marketing expertise immediately customizes the processes of product creation and development. It avoids existing barriers due to the pre-existence of someone else’s Intellectual Property. At the same time, it allows the marketing strategy to be better focused since it is easier, faster, and cheaper to promote a product that has no or little competition. Even if only certain aspects are protected, it can nonetheless be commercially relevant. Eventually, it can help prevent companies to invest money in developing products, brands, or another kind of intellectual assets that will not likely have a successful market fit.

Summing up, early integration of Intellectual Property and marketing techniques within the context of growth hacking is key. This strategy will provide all opportunities for your product to grow into a successful and profitable business.