IAM Issue 39

Johnson & Johnson has shown how
a corporate ethics constitution can
foster reputation resilience

Ambiguous language in patent
applications can cause significant
problems with examination and later
with patent enforcement. The
solution is to introduce easily
accessible controlling dictionaries
that will leave no one in any doubt
as to what words mean

A well-structured and properly
managed IP strategy will play a
pivotal part in any company’s
overall success. Those that do the
job best are well communicated,
widely accepted throughout the
organisation and, perhaps most
important of all, widely practised

Equality of opportunity is not just a
matter of improving corporate
diversity profiles. The simple fact is
that companies that employ a
number of women in senior positions
tend to do better on a range of key
measures than those that do not

If IP is the integral corporate asset
we believe it to be, why do so few
C-suite executives engage with it?
Maybe it’s because IP managers do
not properly engage with them.
At Philips, however, that is not the
case. Here’s why

Intellectual property is proving to be
a controversial issue in the climate
change negotiations taking place in
advance of a major UN conference
to be held in Copenhagen in
December, and compulsory
licensing could be on the agenda.
But is this a serious threat or just so
much political posturing?

Everyone has a stake in innovation.
However, for the potential of
innovators to be harnessed to
maximum effect, the environment
within which they currently work
in many parts of the world has
to change

R&D games theory has led to a
better understanding of how IP is
leveraged in various industries. It is
also a useful tool for those
interested in exploring how patent
issues impact on open innovation
timeframes

Although the facts and figures
are impressive, China is not
yet an IP superpower. But if
regional and central
authorities learn to take a
back seat, it soon could be

The IAM blog currently has a
regular readership of around
9,000 unique users, who visit
the site an average of three
times a month. In this new
series, some of the blog’s
most popular recent posts
will be reproduced in the
Insight section of IAM
magazine, along with some
of the responses that
they generated.

As China speeds towards becoming
an innovation-based economy,
foreign businesses have no choice
but to engage with the Chinese IP
system. However, uncertainties in
the efficacy of that system mean
that due diligence is more vital than
ever for rights holders

Presenting patent cases is as much
about how you tell it as what you
tell. A compelling, well-rehearsed
story about the obstacles an
inventor has overcome to secure a
patent is key to helping a judge
and jury comprehend complex
technical issues

Despite low attorney fees, high
damages and relatively fast trials,
the number of patent cases being
initiated in Japan is falling. Some
commentators argue that Japanese
patent litigation is actually antipatent,
which may be affecting the
number of cases filed

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
has set aside a US$358 million
damages award in Lucent v
Gateway, finding that the evidence
was insufficient to support the jury’s
verdict. The case provides some
useful guidance on the role of expert
witnesses in working out damages

After six years and 38 columns “IP
investor” emerges with a new name and
broader outlook. What does stock
investing have to do with patents? Keep
reading to find out

Efforts to increase national
competitiveness reveal a surprising key
ingredient: national cooperation

Applying for both patent and utility model
protection is still feasible under the new
Chinese Patent Law, and in many
situations it could make perfect sense

This issue's featured industry data includes key patent metrics for companies in the Materials Industry.

Based on the level of innovative activity
in the 3-D space, it appears we may
soon be watching 3-D commercials on
our flat-screen televisions and paging
through 3-D memories of our children in
photo albums, writes Jeremy Rosie,
director of Expert Services, IP Solutions,
Thomson Reuters