More than a third of companies have increased trademark policing budgets since last year, according to a recent report from IP management and analytics software company Lecorpio.

While intellectual property assets are undoubtedly valuable for many companies, it's often the case that other concerns rank as top priorities for in-house lawyers, such as reducing legal spend and compliance and ethics management. So it might be unexpected that legal departments are adding to trademark policing budgets, but for two in-house IP counsel, the finding that additional resources are being devoted to brand protection is not at all surprising.

Lecorpio's second annual “Trademark Management Study,” released May 16, asked the company's corporate counsel clients about changes in their trademark portfolios and in-house counsel teams. Responses to one question reveal that 36 percent of respondents increased their trademark policing budgets in the past year. This is a marked increase from the 18 percent who reported this budget uptick in last year's results.