Rob Lambert here with Asset Protection Training 

Today I’m talking about intellectual property 

This is one of my favourite topics because you have a unique and wonderful opportunity to protect your business in the event of a disaster.

Let’s go on to the, uh, diagram and talk about it. 

This little light bulb here represents your intellectual property. It’s your stuff that you own that makes your business work. 

• Its patents 
• Its secret processes 
• Its customer lists 
• Its URLs (yes websites are intellectual property) 
• It’s logos 
• It’s stationary 

It’s the things that constitute goodwill, it’s what your business in many cases relies upon, that ford logo is worth a lot of money.

You should have all of your intellectual property owned offshore. 

Watch, you see it right there! 

That’s in America, that’s available to all your creditors. 

This little red guy only has to reach a little way to grab it and you know what he will grab it!

Here’s what you should do.

You should put it offshore no matter what and you should license it. License at a fair arm’s length or at least seemingly smells good. This is why you need a local lawyer with sense. The amount you charge has to be fair but not too much, license your stuff to your business.

If you’re making burgers and it’s bob’s burgers in Minneapolis Minnesota and that’s becoming a valuable franchise. Have bob’s burgers and all the logos owned offshore and Belize or the Cooks and licensed to the master or to each individual business. That way, if one of those businesses or all of them goes to pieces, then all the creditors getting is a bunch of stoves and some grease and maybe some money. If you haven’t protected your money properly if you left too much behind. You don’t need to do that, usually, you have plenty of notice. 

By using an offshore structure, move your intellectual property offshore and license it to your operating businesses. You really insulate yourself in the event of problems. It is something that you must do, no matter what. When you expand into other countries you do the same thing. 

If it goes crazy in another country. Hey, they take your business in that other country they take your leases, they take your obligations, they take your employees but they don’t take the name bob’s burgers. That’s what you need to do always, be sensitive to that.

Now, our next topic is how to protect or should you protect personal property. It’s one of my favourite topics and something that I hope you enjoy.

Thank you very much for watching and have a protected and healthy week.