IAM Issue 23

Subscribers to IAM will be familiar with
the fact that intangible assets are now
more valuable to companies than they have
ever been before.

Italian patent licensing company
Sisvel plays hardball when seeking
to enforce rights relating to MP3
technology. The latest company to
find this out is SanDisk. But are
Sisvel’s actions anti-competitive?

What is it that makes otherwise
intelligent people appear to be
Neanderthals when it comes to IP?

After years of courtship, the marriage
of intellectual property to financial
investment should be celebrating
more than a few anniversaries.
But that is not yet the case
Something borrowed, something new
It takes two to make a marriage a success
and only one to make it a failure

Technology transfer is one way of
delivering innovative technology to a
great many people. The issue is
how it can best be encouraged.

The shift from the familiar corporate asset bases – centred upon traditional
physical and financial assets – to one increasingly based upon intangible
intellectual capital assets brings with it changing laws and subtle new
ethical problems.

The IP community has a communication problem and if it does not
recognise this, and then do something about it, the long-term effects could
be disastrous.

The value of intangible assets is in the eye of the beholder. If you do not
understand this fundamental truth then all your attempts to discover how
much your intangibles are worth will be doomed to failure.

A new online forum could hold the key to creating a standardised market for
patents in Europe. If it is successful, companies may be able to release
and find significant untapped value.

Talk of poor quality patents and flooding has become commonplace over
recent years, but a closer look at the facts suggests that things are not as
bad as they first seem. While patent offices do face serious challenges,
major changes to the current system are not the answer

The Delaware Supreme Court has recently handed down a decision which
could have a profound impact on the board members of many US
companies. It indicates that failure to oversee intellectual assets may lead
to personal liability.

The procurement of products or
services from a third-party for their
expertise or to cut-costs has always
played an important role in successful
industries. Christian Bunke looks at
how IP outsourcing is changing.

The university technology
transfer sector in the US
must stop living off old
glories and confront the
challenges of the present

Here’s an interesting snippet
about the military junta that
seized power in a bloodless
coup in Thailand last September.

While the Aerospace & Defense
industry has very little movement
atop the leader board, the industry
continues to be driven by research
and development activities for new
commercial aircraft platforms and
government-funded R&D for
government defense contracts.