Template Guide
IP Audit Checklist
Most companies have far more intellectual property than they realise — and much of it is unprotected. An IP audit identifies every asset, evaluates its protection status, and reveals gaps before they become costly problems.
What Is an IP Audit and Why Should You Conduct One?
An IP audit is a systematic review of all intellectual property owned, used, or acquired by your organisation. It identifies what IP you have, how it is currently protected, who owns it, and where vulnerabilities exist. Companies that conduct regular IP audits discover unprotected trade secrets, overlooked inventions, and ownership gaps that could cost millions in litigation or lost competitive advantage. An IP audit is also essential before fundraising, M&A transactions, licensing deals, and joint ventures where third parties will scrutinise your IP portfolio.
Essential Components
Key Sections to Include
A comprehensive ip audit checklist should cover each of these areas.
IP Asset Inventory
Catalogue every piece of IP in the organisation: patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names, software, designs, databases, and know-how. Include both registered and unregistered rights.
Ownership Verification
Confirm who owns each asset. Check employment agreements, contractor assignments, joint venture terms, and acquisition documents. Ownership gaps are among the most common and expensive findings in IP audits.
Protection Status Assessment
For each asset, document the current protection mechanism: patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, or none. Identify assets that should be protected but are not, and assets where protection has lapsed.
Third-Party IP Dependencies
Identify any third-party IP your business relies on: licensed technology, open-source components, supplier IP, and jointly developed assets. Assess the risks if any of these relationships end.
Compliance and Contractual Review
Review all IP-related agreements: licences, NDAs, employment contracts, and collaboration agreements. Check for expiry dates, renewal requirements, and obligations you may not be meeting.
Risk Assessment and Gap Analysis
Rate each asset by value and vulnerability. Prioritise protection efforts where high-value assets have weak protections. Create an action plan with timelines, responsibilities, and budget estimates.
Watch Out
Common Mistakes to Avoid
These pitfalls can undermine your IP protection even with the right template in place.
Only Auditing Registered IP
Patents and trademarks are easy to find. Trade secrets, know-how, and unregistered designs are often overlooked — yet these may be your most valuable assets. A complete audit must include unregistered IP.
Treating It as a One-Off Exercise
IP portfolios change constantly as new products are developed, employees join and leave, and agreements expire. An audit that is never repeated becomes outdated within months.
Not Involving the Right People
IP exists across every department — R&D, marketing, sales, operations, and IT. An audit conducted solely by the legal team will miss IP that engineers, designers, and managers use daily without recognising its value.
Failing to Document the Audit Itself
The audit process and its findings are themselves valuable evidence. If you later need to prove you took reasonable steps to identify and protect trade secrets, a documented audit is powerful evidence.
Best Practices
How to Get It Right
Timestamp Your Audit Report
Create a blockchain-verified timestamp of the completed audit report. This proves you identified your IP assets at a specific date — critical evidence of reasonable steps in trade secret litigation.
Schedule Regular Reviews
Conduct a full audit annually and a mini-review quarterly. Trigger additional audits before major events: funding rounds, acquisitions, new partnerships, or significant product launches.
Create an IP Register
Maintain a living document that is updated as new IP is created or acquired. The audit is a snapshot; the register is the ongoing record. Both are essential for good IP governance.
Assign Clear Ownership for Follow-Up
Every gap identified in the audit should have an assigned owner, a deadline, and a defined action. Without accountability, audit findings gather dust and vulnerabilities persist.
How immut Helps
Timestamp Your IP Assets as You Discover Them
As your audit uncovers unprotected IP, immut lets you instantly create blockchain-verified proof of each asset. No patents needed, no public disclosure required.
Timestamp newly discovered trade secrets during the audit to establish immediate proof of existence
Create a verifiable record of your complete IP portfolio with blockchain-backed dates
Prove to investors and partners that your IP is identified, documented, and protected
Generate court-admissible evidence of reasonable steps for trade secret protection
Build an ongoing IP protection habit — timestamp new assets as they are created, not just during audits
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I conduct an IP audit?
A comprehensive audit should be conducted annually at minimum. Additionally, trigger audits before fundraising, M&A activity, major partnerships, or significant product launches. Quarterly mini-reviews can catch gaps between full audits.
Who should be involved in an IP audit?
Representatives from legal, R&D, engineering, product, marketing, IT, and operations. Every department that creates, uses, or manages intellectual property should contribute. External IP counsel can add valuable perspective, especially for the first audit.
What IP assets are most commonly overlooked?
Trade secrets and know-how are the most frequently missed. Customer lists, pricing algorithms, supplier relationships, manufacturing processes, internal tools, and training materials all qualify as IP but are rarely identified without a structured audit.
Is an IP audit required before raising funding?
While not legally required, investors and their lawyers will conduct IP due diligence. Having a recent IP audit demonstrates professionalism, reduces deal friction, and often improves valuation. It also helps you identify and fix problems before they are discovered by outsiders.
Can I use blockchain timestamps instead of patents for audit findings?
For many assets — especially trade secrets, processes, and know-how — blockchain timestamps provide immediate, cost-effective protection without the disclosure that patents require. They complement patents rather than replace them. Use timestamps for assets that are better kept confidential.
Ready to Protect Your IP?
A good ip audit checklist is essential — but proving when it was created is just as important. immut gives you instant, blockchain-verified proof that stands up in court.