Edison in the Boardroom Revisited: How Leading Companies Realize Value from Their Intellectual Property, Second Edition

Summary

Visionary organizations like the ones described here truly carry on the Edison legacy, and so can you. As a leader or advisor working with a technology-rich company, it is your job to be sure that the company’s shareholders reap the value of its investments in IP. The IP Value Hierarchy can help you determine how your company measures up with others, both within and outside your industry, and where on the Hierarchy the organization or business unit should be. The Hierarchy can then also give you a road map for how to get to where you’d really like to be. Remember that much of your company’s value is related to its intangible assets. You are the person minding that store, so mind it as well as possible.

Few companies today have completely mastered Level Three, let alone Level Four. There may not yet be any that are completely satisfied that they have reached the ultimate peak of success: Level Five, the Shape the Future level. It is possible for a company to be performing at several different levels in this hierarchy simultaneously. The basic question is how a company views the purpose and utilizes its IP to achieve it. When a company is willing to take advantage of the opportunities offered through exploitation of its IP and make conscious decisions on its effective monetization, then the level of utilization rises. As a company reaches the highest level of utilization, its focus on IP has permeated the company and is now extending beyond the organization itself and into ...