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IAM magazine issue 48
Telling it how it is
The annual IAM/Thomson Reuters benchmarking survey shows that while IP value creation is becoming an increasingly important part of strategic corporate thinking, there is still a way to go before it is a fully established and widespread fact of business life
Features
Meet the elite
Each year, induction into the IP Hall of Fame is reserved for a select group of individuals. The achievements of the people
chosen this year certainly match
those of their predecessors
Patents as weapons in economic warfare
National governments are beginning
to understand that patents can be
powerful economic weapons; not
just in encouraging local innovation,
but also in setting the global
technological agenda
The evolving role of intellectual property in M&A transactions
The sea changes underway in the IP market – in particular, those involving patents – are increasingly having an impact on deal making in
significant M&A transactions
New models in response to changes in the global IP market
IP investment models are changing.
This poses challenges, some of
which are unique to private equity
and others which are shared by all
in the IP acquisition and
monetisation marketplace
IP business models past, present and future
In the last 10 years, new business
models exploiting IP assets have
emerged; but unmet market needs remain
Growing IP with UGC
User-generated content has proved
to be among the most successful
ways of creating commercial
intellectual property ever developed
PARC life
Damon Matteo has been guiding
PARC’s IP strategy since 2002. During that time he has acquired a reputation as one of the world’s most innovative and influential chief IP officers
China’s emerging patent trading market
Although the Chinese patent
transactions market is currently
small and relatively unsophisticated,
over the coming years that is likely
to change
How a strong reputation creates freedom to operate
Although it is intangible, reputation allows businesses and executives operational freedoms that lead to very tangible results
“To innovate, we must make”
Innovation is not the be all and end all of a successful economy. As the United States is currently discovering, without significant
manufacturing capacity, jobs disappear and living standards
decline
IP market – present and future
The market for domain names is well established and highly lucrative; a market for patents has been harder to establish, but one is set to launch in the near future
Insights
The valuable IP lessons to be learned from eight years of Skype
Microsoft has announced that it plans to pay US$8.5
billion to acquire internet
communications company
Skype. Had previous owners
been as zealous in assessing
Skype’s IP position as
Microsoft doubtless will be, it
is unlikely that the deal would
ever have been done
Seen and heard
A round-up of IP-related quotes, observations and opinions from the recent past...
They should hang their heads in shame …
In February 2011, the US SenatJudiciary Committee voted unanimously in favour of the America Invents Act. When the legislation went to the full Senate, it was passed by 95 voto five. Among the act’s most significant sections is one ending fee diversion from the selffunding US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Columns
Re-inventing the business of innovation
The greatest challenge – and
opportunity – facing the business of
innovation is to innovate around the
business models it employs
Cash: patents’ once and future king?
Equity investors are hot for the profit
potential of patents. IP holders are
hoping that cool heads will prevail
New copyright law stirs up controversy in New Zealand
A three strikes and you’re out law with
regard to illegal file sharing will come
into force in New Zealand in September.
It has attracted both strong support and
bitter opposition
Industry insight
The strategy behind patent citations
For executive management to have a
clear understanding of its competitor’s
intentions in protecting an invention, it is important to look at the patent’s
citations, writes Bob Stembridge of the IP
Solutions business of Thomson Reuters
Co-published editorial
Management report
Patent licensing in the life sciences industry
It is not always easy to gain
ownership of valuable IP assets
through one’s own inventiveness.
As such, a key way of remaining
profitable and competitive is by
acquiring licences from the
legitimate owners of IP assets. In
recent years, many pharmaceutical
and biotechnology giants have
begun licensing Indian technology
The successful building and handling
of a strong pharmaceutical patent
portfolio requires a great deal of
engagement and proactivity.
Neglecting just one factor could be
sufficient to compromise an otherwise
high-quality patent; a patent is only as
strong as its weakest link
The Bilski court held that abstract
ideas cannot be patented, but
recent months have provided clear
indications that medical treatments
and methods are patentable.
However, patent applicants and
practitioners should not allow this to
distract them from the other
requirements for patenting; all
claims must still pass the novelty,
obviousness and disclosure
requirements
The EU IP Rights Enforcement
Directive makes interlocutory
injunctive relief available where
infringement has been attempted or
where preparations for infringement
have been made. So, can the act of
seeking and obtaining marketing
authorisation or price approval for a
generic product qualify as an
attempt to infringe or prepare for
infringement?
Although the period for the Mexican
Ministry of Health to issue
regulations on the approval of
biocomparables has expired, the
draft regulations are still being
reviewed, with input from the
Mexican Association of
Pharmaceutical Research and the
National Association of Drug
Manufacturers
Although supplementary protection
certificates (SPCs) have been
available since 1993, uncertainty
remains concerning their grant,
validity and scope. A number of
cases concerning the interpretation
of some fundamental aspects of the
SPC regulations are now before the
European Court of Justice
Stem cells can “transform into a
dazzling array of specialised cells
that make us what we are”. As
such, they have great potential in
many different areas of health and
medical research, but their
patentability has long been the
source of controversy
