Understanding Finance as a Non-Finance Legal Professional: An Interview with Brian Buss

Brian Buss (GlassRatner, USA)

In 2023, INTA made its first foray into certificate programs with the Finance for Non-Finance Legal Professionals Certificate Program. Recognizing that the intellectual property (IP) profession is evolving, and that IP professionals today are expected to have substantive and dynamic skills beyond IP, the Association created the program to serve IP professionals looking to gain a deeper understanding of the financial aspects of managing brands.

The program is currently available for online enrollment, and 2025 Leadership Meeting registrants will have the opportunity to take the course in person in a two-day workshop on-site in Hollywood, Florida, USA. Brian Buss (GlassRatner, USA), the incoming Chair of the Commercialization of Brands Committee, led the development of the program, and will be an instructor for the in-person workshop. Mr. Buss recently sat down with the INTA Bulletin to discuss the connection between finance and IP, offer his perspective on the value of taking this course in-person, and share his hopes for how the workshop will ultimately help break down barriers between the IP and finance professions.

Why is it important for IP professionals to understand the basics of finance?
Brands and IP are an asset. That asset requires an investment, and essentially, finance is the tool to manage the investment and the organization’s return on that investment. In other words, finance is the language companies use to determine what the benefits are of investing in brands and IP.

There are three aspects of most evaluations or analysis of IP assets: the legal aspect, the behavioral aspect, and the financial aspect. Finance is essentially one of the three key elements to understanding what IP is and what it does.

What are the key benefits of participating in the Finance for Non-Finance Legal Professionals Certificate Program Workshop, offered at the Leadership Meeting and online?
It may sound old school, but taking a workshop in person is just more personal. Being in a room gives you the opportunity to interact with the instructors and the other students. I think that’s always a key element of learning. If you don’t understand a concept, the in-person format that we’ve set up is great for asking questions and getting immediate feedback and responses.

The combination of the online resources and the in-person instruction really work well together. You get the in-person experience, and then you can dive deeper and take the online course to solidify these concepts and learn more.

What’s one piece of feedback you’ve received from an INTA member who participated in the workshop that demonstrates its value?
The feedback that I always get is that all the instructors are great to interact with. However, the best feedback I’ve received from a student was that completing the certificate program just made their job easier. In other words, they saw where the concepts taught in the course intersected with aspects of their day-to-day job and had an easier time doing it.

How will participating in the workshop, which covers topics like licensing, damages, valuation, and mergers and acquisitions, enhance a registrant’s overall substantive knowledge?
All the chapters in the course are designed to introduce key concepts and provide links to resources to learn more, but the chapters on licensing, damages, valuation, and mergers and acquisitions give the students a stronger financial vocabulary. The students are then able to communicate and interact at a higher level across their organization with people from different parts of the organization. Those topic-specific chapters are all about building and enhancing that financial vocabulary.

In your view, how will the relationship between IP and finance professionals evolve over the next five years?
I imagine—and I hope—that financial professionals will continue to develop new tools and techniques to manage and analyze IP assets. That could lead to a breaking down of barriers between these different professions. Right now, you’re either only a legal professional or only a financial professional, but I think we should all have an understanding of all three aspects—the legal, the financial, and the behavioral—of IP and have a strong vocabulary in all three of those aspects. I hope to see more IP professionals integrating the tools of financial analysis into their professional toolkit, so that IP and finance don’t just exist in their own separate silos, but are both integrated into the IP profession.

Which educational session are you most looking forward to attending at the 2025 Leadership Meeting?
I scanned through the program the other day, and there are a lot of sessions that I think will be interesting and valuable. There’s a session on how to get your content published, Publishing Your IP Expertise: From Idea to Publication, which is intriguing because finding a path to publication is always a challenge for busy professionals.

The Leadership Labs have always been an interesting element of the Leadership Meeting to me as a committee vice chair and now, incoming committee chair. The labs really give us some tools to participate in our committees at a higher level.

Finally, as Vice Chair of the Commercialization of Brands Committee, I have to promote our Committee’s session, Revolutionize Your IP Portfolio with AI: Strategy and Client Value, which is taking place on Thursday at 10:00 am. AI remains one of the most critical topics facing IP professionals today, so we expect a full room for this session.

Learn more and register for the 2025 Leadership Meeting. The Finance for Non-Finance Legal Professionals Workshop can be purchased as an add-on when you complete your registration or purchased by returning to the registration system at any time.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. The opinions expressed in this interview are that of the person being interviewed and do not purport to reflect the views of INTA or its members.

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