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

The Intellectual Property Management System

To fully understand the Value Hierarchy, we need to see how companies systematically manage and extract value from their intellectual assets. We call this the Intellectual Property Management System (IPMS). Figure 1.3 depicts a generic IPMS as now visualized by the Gathering companies.

Figure 1.3 Generic IPMS

Though no one company uses a system identical to the one shown below, the Gathering companies have agreed that if they were to start all over again, they would each likely design a system with the components described in the box below. In the chapters to follow we focus on each of these components as they relate to the best practices detailed for each level of the hierarchy.

Opportunity Identification

All firms have their own approach and method for developing new or innovative ideas that create value. For many technology companies this process is housed in an R&D activity; service companies, on the other hand, often have a creativity department; still others rely on their employees in the field to produce innovative ideas. Whatever the firm’s source of new inventions, Opportunity awaits.

Opportunity Identification is one of the most important parts of the IPMS. It comprises four individual steps (see Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4 IPMS Steps

Step 1: Update (Renew) Understanding of the Current Business Plan

It is important for decision-makers ...