Furnittio1 Furnittio is a small enterprise dedicated to the production of special fittings for doors. After decades in the business, Furnittio created a new type of opening for interior doors in response to accessibility issues for people with disabilities. The initial idea of creating doors with particular handles developed into an innovative mechanical system consisting of a roto-translating opening technology. Frunittio filed a patent application with the Italian patent and trademark office to protect its invention and the patent was granted in Italy. Following the grant of the patent, Furnittio thought of commercializing its finished doors incorporating the patented technology, and filed the trade mark application "Furnittio X" in Italy on its product. Not having a real commercial structure dedicated to business to consumer (B2C) operations, Furnittio began to make contacts with potential distributors and retailers in the windows and doors industry around Europe to develop distribution partnerships. In exchange for showing them prototypes of its product, Furnittio could know what would be the response of potential customers in those markets. Therefore, the company was able to test the feasibility of their product prior to its commercialization, which proved to be useful to improve the final products it offered. Unfortunately, several problems arose. One of Furnittio's distributors, Clergy-Nurtuire (who had a small in-house research and design unit of its own), filed a patent application in the US based on Furnittio's invention with some minor improvements. Further, Clergy-Nurtuire submitted the same application to the European Patent Office with the intention of commercializing its own products in multiple European countries, including Italy. Clergy-Nurtuire also filed this application at China's patent office, seeking both a utility model patent and an invention patent in China. Clergy-Nurtuire has yet to hear back if any of these applications will be granted. Clergy-Nurtuire has also signed a manufacturing agreement with a Chinese firm in Shenzhen, China to manufacture the product corresponding to the patent applications, and production began. Additionally, Clergy-Nurtuire attempted to file the "Furnittio X" trademark in China in multiple furniture product sub-classes. They have yet to hear back if it will be granted. 

Questions: How should Furnittio have better managed its intellectual assets? How can the company still respond to its current situation to profit from its innovations?