IAM Issue 20

Because intellectual property is a legal
right, in the end it only has value if those
that own it are ready to go to court to
defend what they have. A company that is
prepared to stand by and watch others
infringe its patents, trademarks, copyrights
or trade secrets will not be in business for
long. Certainly, its shareholders will very
quickly begin to ask questions.

IP managers who do not adapt to the
new USPTO rules will have budget
and patent enforcement problems

Finding a patent attorney should
not be too difficult. Making sure you
have the right one, however, is a
harder task

In the so-called War on Terror,
intellectual property has a crucial
part to play. Whether the IP
community is doing enough,
however, is open to debate

Outlawing broad patents on unusual
inventions is a bad idea. It is more
likely to destroy innovation than fuel it

While negotiating parties can usually agree on the major elements in any
licensing deal, things get trickier when it comes to looking at the minutiae.
To prevent negotiations breaking down, multi-faceted valuation
methodologies should be employed

SFAS 141 was issued five years ago in the US to change the way in which
acquiring companies value assets and view intangibles involved in an M&A
deal. In order to avoid future problems such companies would do well to
ensure that IP experts take part in the valuation process

Off-industry and non-core patent licensing has often been held up as the
IP industry’s Holy Grail. But recent research suggests that for most it is
actually nothing more than myth and mirage

India’s IT industry is one of the country’s great success stories.
But to take the next step forward, businesses operating in the sector
have to come to terms with a series of IP management challenges

It has always been easy to measure the size of a patent portfolio.
More complicated has been the task of working out its quality. Now, however,
new statistical benchmarking methods are emerging which could make
things a whole lot simpler

Intellectual property due diligence
should form part of the necessary
audits undertaken before any M&A
activity. However, it often isn’t
considered until very late in the
process, writes John Pryor of CPA

At this year’s meeting of the LES USA and Canada,
the relationship between patents and finance was high
on the agenda. And while the mainstream investment
community remains wary of placing too much emphasis
on any kind of IP right, specialist investors are
beginning to emerge

There has been a shortage of
dialogue between IP practitioners and
owners on the one hand, and
academics on the other – often to the
detriment of both. A new European
Patent Academy initiative aims to
change all that.