Tradition is part of an entity development and is good to keep some things unaltered, but when the time comes the need to adapt to the new trends will make the difference.
It is crystal clear that in the next years IP law firms will face challenges related to cost and profitability, coming as a consequence of the fast-evolving IP-led economy. Everyone wants more, by covering all the areas and maintaining the profit at the top. But in order to obtain that, they need to provide more. That’s also the case for the law firms in the IP industry. In the pursue of obtaining a higher profit they meet the request of increasing the strategic advice at a suitable cost for the client.
At a closer look, some of the main challenges can be resumed at: pressure to reduce costs, maintaining and improving practice profitability and also an increased competition among the law firms.
From another point of view, the challenges are also coming from the corporate IP departments, which expect from a top law firm: commercial understanding, realistic advice and strategic thinking of the highest quality. For an IP law firm to be successful and ensure its growth and profitability on long term, it has to demonstrate first of all a relevant IP experience in order to gain business from corporate IP departments. Law firms need to be more focused on the strategic value of a corporate clients’ IP portfolio. Secondly, they have to be more oriented to the challenges faced by the corporations and deliver in the most efficient way the kind of services that will fulfill their needs and help them succeed.