Business Power: Creating New Wealth from IP Assets

Introduction

The IP Landscape

The business world is changing and changing fast based on the innovations in IP management. Members of the Plaintiff Bar are soliciting shareholders to participate in class action suits against management and their boards of directors for failure to manage the company’s IP assets effectively. Hedge funds are working “long” and “short” positions based on a company’s IP portfolio and its technological trajectory. Financiers are buying companies just to acquire the IP for enforcement against deep-pocketed infringers, and companies are using the courts to establish reputational value and win damages in infringement suits. It’s business, but the courts are becoming a bigger factor in IP strategies.

Let’s not forget about the standards and regulatory communities, because Sarbanes-Oxley is increasingly expanding its reach into IP management. The SEC and the FASB are struggling with what rules and procedures to apply to be able to account for the approximate 70 percent of value represented by intangibles in today’s enterprises.This large number is a real “stone in the shoes” of the SEC, the FASB, and the accounting community. They need to account for this value.

Meanwhile, Congress continues to look at patent reform as a legislative remedy. Many companies are moving to get more legislation to “straighten out” the IP chaos.

As you read this book, do not expect any easy answers, but do resolve to put IP management at the top of your list of priorities in your strategic ...