INTELLECTUAL property will be the hot topic at this week's international conference of the Licensing Executives Society, which is expected to attract about 400 delegates from more than 35 countries throughout the world.

Although the conference is being held at Edinburgh's International Conference Centre, only around 30 and 40 of the delegates are from Scotland. Many of these are late entrants, which concerns Scottish-based organisers.

Fiona Nicolson, who takes over today as the society's president for Britain and Ireland, said not enough was being done to commercialise Scottish research and development for the benefit of this country. She claims that while there is an increasing awareness of intellectual property (IP), not enough businesses are taking steps to protect this asset.

Nicolson, who also heads the IP department at the firm of Maclay Murray & Spens, said more professionals in Scotland needed to familiarise themselves with emerging issues in IP.

''Our own survey, conducted among Scotland's leading companies at the end of last year, showed that of the 41% of firms who were likely to commission or carry out work which would result in the creation of IP rights, only 28% were likely to seek professional advice,'' Nicolson said. ''Securing rights in this area is pivotal, and failure to seek proper advice has frequently resulted in disastrous consequences.''

Topics at the conference will centre around issues important to sectors such as defence, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.