An Indian automobile company is interested in joint venture arrangement with a foreign company. It has, however, little knowledge about Due-diligence of intellectual property rights in a corporate transaction. Advise the

Scope IP due diligence generally seeks to: Identify and locate IP assets, and then assess the nature and scope of the IP to evaluate their benefits and allocate risks associated with the ownership or use of the relevant IP assets; in particular, it seeks to determine whether the relevant IP is free of encumbrances for its intended business use(s). Identify problems in and barriers to the transfer, hypothecation or securitization of the IP assets under consideration. Identify and apportion between the two parties the expenses incident to the transfer of IP assets under consideration.