Tata to British IP?

Confirmation of

acquisition of

and

for a consideration of £1.15bn is a significant success story for UK intellectual property. But what happens when valuable IP changes hands in this way? What are the pitfalls and what can the new owner do to protect and enhance its value?

On the face of it, despite paying out over a billion pounds, Tata Motors appears to have secured a reasonable deal. In addition to owning UK manufacturing plants and design centres, the Indian car giant has also acquired all necessary intellectual property rights associated with the Jaguar and Land Rover marques. The acquisition will strengthen Tata’s offering considerably and it is easy to see how a car maker famous for producing the Nano – the world’s cheapest car - for its domestic market, is going to benefit from owning brands that offer real cache in more established markets around the world. In the longer term, Tata is almost certainly on to a winner.