On June 8, Antonina Shishanova, Associate of the Intellectual Property practice at Capital Legal Services, conducted a workshop dedicated to the specifics of due diligence of intangible assets of IT companies for ITMO students.

At the workshop, Antonina discussed the following issues:

• What is due diligence and why IT companies should perform it.
• How to perform a full-fledged due diligence and assessment of the company’s assets.
• What to focus on, what pitfalls to expect and what principles to follow when performing the due diligence.
• What recommendations to give on eliminating risks the due diligence revealed.

The speaker noted that IP assets are frequently undervalued; meanwhile, their value can be several times higher than the value of tangible assets. She advised to start the due diligence with reviewing documents. First, it is necessary to make sure that the IT company’s key asset, which is software, is adequately protected.