IP and IT Issues in M&A Deals

In many business transactions, the intellectual property (“IP”) of a company may be among the critical assets of value being transferred, or just a small part of the overall corporate deal. Information technology (“IT”) systems of the acquired business will almost always be essential. Accordingly, it is important for an acquiring company to conduct a thorough “due diligence” inquiry into the identity, validity and value of the IP and IT assets owned and used by the acquired business. In this white paper, former SRZ partner Robert R. Kiesel and special counsel Scott M. Kareff outline the steps that should be taken with respect to the acquisition of IP and IT assets in an M&A context, including trademarks, patents, copyrights, domain names/websites, and software and hardware rights and agreements.