Business Power: Creating New Wealth from IP Assets

Chapter 1. Building IP Value in the Corporation^[1]: The Core of the Innovation Process

MIKE GEOFFREY

The IP process protects innovation, but the IP process itself stimulates further innovation.

Key Points to Look For

• IP supports and protects the integrity of the innovative process by enabling the company to differentiate its products and services in the global market.

• The innovative process is the sustaining capability of the enterprise, as savvy IP management stimulates more creativity and innovative R&D activity.

• IP management is no longer a specialist’s job but is an integral part of business operations, requiring executive-level interaction and decision involvement.

• Companies must have a sense of how to value IP as a business (rather than a financial) asset in order to maximize the value to the company, not just in legal rights, but in regard to other intangibles—specifically reputation and market position.

• This valuation process must have quantitative as well as reliable and relevant qualitative constructs.

IP’s Impact on Corporate Global Competitiveness

The ability to compete globally will define the prosperity of a nation, its people, and their institutions. America has enjoyed a hugely successful run as the world’s leading economic engine, but the competitive arena is changing. Increasingly, intellectual property (IP) carries more economic weight in business decisions, and these business ...