The aim of IAM Strategy 250 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists is to identify those individuals who offer world-class services related to the development and implementation of strategies that enable IP owners to maximise the value of their rights portfolios.

Because the IAM Strategy 250 list of leading strategists is designed to be used primarily by senior executives working inside IP-owning organisations, to qualify for inclusion an individual cannot work for an operating company – that is, a company that creates, licenses-in and/or buys intellectual property in order to create products and/or services.

To build the final list of individuals, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine undertakes an extensive research process. This involves face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as email exchanges, with members of the IP professions from around the world.

Please note that no individual can qualify for a listing in the IAM Strategy 250 unless he or she has been nominated for inclusion by at least three people who work in organisations unrelated to that of the potential nominee. Even then, this does not guarantee inclusion. Only those individuals who further research shows to have exceptional skill sets, as well as profound insights into the development, creation and management of IP value, feature in the IAM Strategy 250.

For this year’s IAM Strategy 250, we decided that the individuals listed in 2009’s publication would again qualify for inclusion – after all, you are very unlikely to be a world-class strategist one year and then not be so the next. However, we did review all names and some have been removed because material circumstances have changed or the individuals concerned were unable to confirm to us that they continue to operate in the IP strategy space.

There are, however, a number of new names also featured in the 2010 edition. In January of this year, we invited everyone listed in 2009 to nominate individuals they thought qualified for consideration as world-class IP strategists because of the level of expertise they possess. We investigated the claims of all those who received the minimum three nominations; the people whose experience and qualifications matched our criteria are included in this publication.

We seek to ensure that the IAM Strategy 250 is as accurate as possible. Our aim is to produce the definitive list of the world’s leading IP strategists. Ultimately, however, what you find within this publication represents the subjective opinion of the IAM research team. If you disagree with our opinion, we would like to hear from you – on who should be included and why. Our guarantee is that we will further research your input extensively, with the aim of improving the list in the future.

All individuals who make the final cut, and who state they wish to be included, are featured in the IAM Strategy 250 free of charge. Under no circumstances whatsoever is it possible to buy a place in the publication. However, everyone listed has been offered the opportunity to take out an enhanced biography entry for a fee. All enhanced biographies have been edited into IAM house style by our sub-editors – the content of the biographies, though, was supplied by the individuals concerned.