The first of a three part series looking at intellectual property.

For a start-up, intellectual property (IP) can be intimidating and may seem like an unappealing prospect, requiring a company to spend time and money in its furtive early days when growth and scalability are the main focus. And for those start-ups that do pursue their initial IP optimisation exercise with a sense of enthusiasm, that same zeal may soon begin to wane as day-to-day business tasks result in IP issues being placed on the backburner.

However, failing to implement and optimise an IP strategy in a start-up’s nascent…