IAM Magazine issue 49

September/October 2011

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Another British piñata

UK revelations centred on one of its tabloid newspapers have left News Corporation, the world’s second biggest media conglomerate, in the eye of a global storm. Once again, a major company is paying the price for not following the rules of effective reputation management
Nir Kossovsky and Jonathan Baskin

Features

Trends in US patent litigation

The electronics industry has been at the heart of the explosion in US patent suits over the past 20 years. It is important not to forget that – before coming to conclusions about overall filing, litigation and licensing activity
Terry Ludlow

Taking the bay

The fourth IP Business Congress took place at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco from 19th to 21st June. It was attended by more than 500 delegates. Over the three days of the event, they heard a multi-disciplinary speaking faculty of IP thought leaders debate a range of subjects centred on the theme of IP value creation

IP P&L

Is becoming a profit centre and measuring success something that all IP departments should aim for? The answer is not as straightforward as it might perhaps appear at first glance
Sara-Jayne Clover

One-Blue: a blueprint for patent pools in high-tech

With the creation of One-Blue, six companies have developed an innovative patent pool for Blu-ray Disc products that levels the playing field, reduces costs and fosters fair use of the patent system in the optical disc sector
Ruud J Peters

Updating IP reporting practices

The way that companies report their IP activities both internally and externally is dependent on the outcomes they are seeking to achieve
Patrick Sullivan and Rupert Mayer

Patent transactions in transition

As the way in which patents are viewed and exploited by their owners and third parties has changed over recent years, so new ways of defining IP performance have emerged. The challenge for corporate IP managers is to keep up with developments in order to maximise transaction value
Joseph Sommer

The role of valuation in IP management

Corporate IP managers share their perspectives on differences in processes and structures to tackle IP valuations, a topic that is under much scrutiny and debate
Lydia Steck and Linda Corcoran

Taking risks

The results of an IP risk survey undertaken earlier this year among European and US corporations show that while IP is increasingly understood to be an important corporate asset, IP-related insurance is yet to be viewed as a priority
Matthew R Hogg and John Wawrose

Insights

After its Nortel defeat, Google has no option but to look elsewhere

Losing out in the US$4.5 billion Nortel patent auction was undoubtedly a major setback for Google. The company must now spend the money it saved on building a dynamic and strong portfolio that can protect the Android platform. The good news is that it can be done. The bad news is that cash-rich Apple will seek to make it as hard as possible

Seen and heard

A round-up of IP-related quotes, observations and opinions from the recent past ...

Inside the Nortel auction

In addition to Google (operating under the Ranger moniker during the sale process), four parties took part in the auction for the Nortel patent portfolio: Apple; Rockstar Bidco, a consortium of major technology companies consisting of Microsoft, EMC, Sony, Ericsson and RIM; Intel Corporation; and Norpax LLC, an offshoot of RPX Corp.

Columns

Model behaviour

Diverse businesses have made monetising patents more lucrative and less painful. They have come a long way, but are yet to be fully understood
Bruce Berman

The US Supreme Court says “no” to a new invalidity standard

Patent holders can breathe a little more easily following the US Supreme Court’s ecent decision in i4i v Microsoft, which maintains the established burden of proof necessary to invalidate a patent
Douglas Cawley

Co-published editorialRoundtable

Finding a way through the EU patent litigation maze

Europe may claim to be a single market, but when it comes to patent litigation, this is certainly not the case. Five experts discuss the challenges that this fragmented reality presents

Co-published editorialIndustry insight

Pharmaceutical branding: engineering the perfect name

With more hurdles than ever standing between drug R&D and brand marketing, Jeroen Lallemand of Thomson CompuMark explains how industry best practices are evolving to help create safer trade names more efficiently