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I think you need to look up laches before claiming I'm wrong. Laches has nothing to do with the OP's question. You do not have to actively protect IP in order to maintain ownership of it - that is the case for trademarks.

First, IP is generally a meaningless term. So lets talk about specifics.

Trademark law specifically requires that a trademark be vigorously defended or you can lose the mark. So far, so good. But, I'm not talking about statutory defenses.

I'm talking about laches, which is a defense which is, in fact, applicable to patents and copyright infringement. With respect to copyright, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Chirco v. Crosswinds Communities, Inc. held that, "depending on the nature of the relief sought and in compelling circumstances, the defense of laches may bar a copyright infringement claim (or certain remedies) even though that claim is brought within the three-year statute of limitations". With respect to patents, in Troxler Electronic Labs v. Pine Instrument the judge held "[A] laches defense exists precisely to prevent patentees from delaying in filing suit simply because they do not feel "motivated to do so." Accordingly, the undersigned hereby finds that Pine's unjustified five year delay was unreasonable and that Troxler is entitled to summary judgment on the unreasonable delay prong of its laches defense."

What's so comical when dealing with you, Thom, is this statement:

"I think you need to look up laches before claiming I'm wrong."

Just because you make claims with no factual backing doesn't mean others make the same mistake. And thanks for reinforcing my point that you should be ignored when talking about legal issues since you are almost certainly going to be wrong. Like in this case. Wrong again.