Is IPAN the next big thing in IP?

With more than 300,000 managed trademarks, patents, designs and a turnover of almost €30 million, IPAN has developed into a leading service company for patent annuities and trademark renewals in Germany in just five years.

Now, the company is aiming to expand as a result of the participation of investors in Europe and to develop new markets in the United States and Asia. Anton Bory, 39, is IPAN's founder and chief executive.

How did the company develop from a start-up to where it is now?

Anton Bory: I really don’t know how long you can use the name start-up for a company. We left our ‘garage’ just over two years ago when we reached break-even and looked for a building with the greatest possible expansion potential— so that we didn’t have to move again right away. We sit down at the conference table, next to a pile of company brochures, on the front of which there is a picture of an elephant.

Who's the elephant?

AB: That is Kiruba, a female elephant from India. IPAN adopted her via the World Wildlife Fund and appointed her as company mascot. We chose it because it symbolises the properties to be expected of our company. IPAN reminds customers of the extremely important maturities of their protective rights, IPAN doesn’t forget anything. We have the memory of an elephant. Did you know that an elephant can remember every single water hole that it has ever been to, no matter how long ago it was there?

In addition, elephants live in a group, which ensures their survival. IPAN too forms a strong IP community. IPAN is an alliance of large IP firms from more than 150 countries. What I also particularly like, something which hardly anyone knows, is that elephants are incredibly good swimmers. This is something you don’t expect. And we are guaranteed to surprise the IP market in the next few years with extraordinarily innovative services.

What services does IPAN offer its partners?

AB: IPAN is an international network of leading IP experts, a partnership and strategic alliance of renowned and leading IP offices that have been centralised via IPAN and, above all, provide IP services to industry with great cost optimisation. We are the ‘one stop shop’ in IP, represented by our partners in more than 150 countries across the world. We are already looking after more than 300,000 protective rights.

Our service starts with the validation of European patents or PCT nationalisations. We take care of the payment of all worldwide patent annuities and trademark renewals, manage assignments and re-registrations of complete portfolios of protective rights. So we look after the entire administrative protective rights process.

As far as I know, we are the only company in the world that offers such a complete range of IP services. We thus cover the majority of the added value chain, which is doubtless a good starting point for success.

And what underpins your success?

AB: The three most important entrepreneurial virtues: effort, effort and effort. Then, targetoriented acquisition plays a large role. But above all, you need good people, who firmly believe in what they are doing and commit themselves to it with all their power and motivation—which, for a young company, is anything but simple to find.

Good employees are not just sitting on the road and waiting for you. They are in great companies, in top positions and, which makes things even worse, are also earning a lot of money. You need a lot of convincing work to win such employees over for a new company. The whole team is responsible for the company’s success.

Alongside top staff in a motivating corporate culture, we place importance on well thought-out processes and set new standards for ourselves every day.

What kind of standards are they?

AB: Our standards aim to provide the best possible guarantee of security in the administration of protective rights by stateof- the-art IT in combination with maximum service quality delivered by experienced and motivated personnel, available to the world’s important markets, at a price adapted to the size and requirements of an IP-portfolio.

The supreme objective for partner companies and industrial clients is always ensuring a clear added value from co-operation with IPAN: monetarily in the form of savings and also by removing the pressure on internal resources.

So you see it as a win-win for clients?

AB: In my opinion, the frequently quoted win-win situation doesn't even exist. I haven’t got a clue who invented this expression. After all, money doesn’t disappear, it is just redistributed again and again. In the end, someone always loses, that has been proven in business administration and, before you ask, in our case, it’s our competitors.

Alongside IPAN, there are only four IP companies to be taken seriously all over the world; in recent years, they have lost some renowned customers and thus market share. We were not exactly innocent in that regard.

Can you briefly describe what the IPAN business model offers customers?

AB: A Chinese proverb says: “You must convince your business partner with only three arguments, you don’t get more time.” Co-operation with IPAN always offers the greatest possible added value, for the industry and also for the offices.

• For industry, IPAN significantly reduces IP costs, increases internal effectiveness and reduces the overall risk of actions.

• More and more IP firms decide to become IPAN partners because they can react to their clients' requirements considerably more quickly and with cost optimisation as a result of our worldwide network. Competitiveness is greatly improved and the IP firm can serve its clients optimally again in the administrative IP segment.

• In addition, each IPAN partner can participate in the IPAN profits through a holding.

How did you get partner firms and clients to buy into the IPAN idea?

AB: My network was and still is my most valuable capital, which I always look after carefully. The motto is: always be honest, only promise what you can really keep. Then, your network will be grateful to you. People will take you seriously and trust you. And if you have been particularly good, they will even trust their business and their money to you.

"We are guaranteed to surprise the IP market in the next few years with extraordinarily innovative services.”

How did you proceed to begin with?

AB: For the first two years, I almost exclusively concentrated on the foundation of IPAN, the set-up of the worldwide network of partner offices. In this time, I attended a lot of IP conferences all over the world, had innumerable appointments in order to win over offices in all important IP countries as speedily as possible.

Parallel to this, administration, IT and IP administering software were developed and produced together with renowned companies and the first IPAN partners. In early 2008, critical coverage in almost 100 countries had been achieved with IP partner firms and we began to sell our services.

We reached break-even the same year and were able to invest—then things really started. Today, no one makes any jokes about us or belittles our plan. And it is only now that we are in the position to really get started!

What plans do you have for international expansion?

AB: IPAN is not a self-enclosed system. We are permanently enlarging our IP firm network. Further offices are warmly welcome to join us and thus to improve their own and also their clients’ competitiveness. Through IPAN’s industrial clients, there is work for more IPAN partners from all over the world. With its headquarters in Germany, an office in Italy and a first representation in Asia, three markets are already covered.

This year, offices in the US, in France and in Great Britain are to follow. Early last year, the Asian branch opened in Seoul, South Korea, run by a former LG manager. From there, business in Asia was started and only two months after the start of activity, one of the largest Korean companies was obtained as a client.

From South Korea, the existing contacts and partners are being used to expand IPAN’s activities to Japan and China.

What does IPAN 's future look like?

AB: After a slight consolidation in 2009, the IP market is continuing to grow rapidly. The application figures cause us to look to the future more than optimistically. New marketing techniques, new service options and combinations provide a growth potential for our company that is far from being exhausted yet.

And how do you plan to finance the forthcoming expansion?

AB: As a result of the financial crisis, investments had to be financed exclusively from personal funds and income achieved since formation. This policy only permitted limited, but very secure growth. The investment market appears to be stabilising and we shall be looking for a financial partner this year.

First discussions have shown that conservative investments such as an investment in IPAN are especially desirable after the many disappointing showings in the crisis. Only a few weeks ago, according to reports, one of our competitors managed to sell a minority holding of 25 percent to an investment group for almost €500 million. In this sale, the company achieved a valuation of twice its annual turnover.

Such a valuation confirms the durability and security of investment in the IP environment. This year, we are planning a €15 to €20 million share sale as a first step. With this investment, we will be in a position to finance our dynamic growth more quickly and more purposefully. Going public could then be an option to achieve further expansion and purchases—though there are no plans to do so at the moment.

Did you have any doubts about the success of the project?

AB: Developing a business idea not only on paper, but having the courage to put it into practice and to accept the financial and personal risk connected with this, is not always rewarded. So that success was even possible, we had to adapt innovatively and flexibly to the various requirements and strategies of offices around the world and their clients.

We had to start internationally and our claim was and still is being an unusually broad-based group of IP experts and firms. But the road to success is covered with difficult, time-consuming, often disappointing discussions.

Were there setbacks?

AB: Yes. Partners who we were convinced would join in did not, assurances were not kept, consultants or employees we had relied on proved not to have the courage to follow up a new idea. I certainly underestimated the fact that our target group is attorneys and lawyers, and not business administrators.

It was not that easy to convince IP firms of a completely new business model mainly based on strategy, reciprocity, changes in the market, and new sales and marketing channels. A business idea that wants to be marketed has to overcome the three essential barriers: I don’t care, I don’t believe, I don’t need.

How did you overcome these barriers?

AB: Again and again, we asked for specific reasons why people weren’t interested in how we could resolve any objections. If you prepare well for this and can plausibly deal with reservations, then you are quite a bit closer to success.