Did I get it wrong?

Did I get it wrong?

As the year draws to a close, I look back at my big prediction for the year.

A perfect storm for IP?

I thought this year would be the year for IP to come into its own. It was based on 6 streams of reasoning.

New Intellectual Property Academy in Beijing

Further evidence of increasing IP sophistication in China

According to CRI English, a new intellectual property academy has been established in Beijing.

Already there are 2 post-doctoral and 41 PhD students studying IP law as their minor. The Intellectual Property Academy of Renmin University already includes 5 foreign students.

China is top in chemical invention patents

I see that according to the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), China is now the top issuer of patent applications in the field of chemistry. It passed out Japan, the former number 1.

A further significance of this, according to the article is that 35% of all invention patents involve chemical substances.

IP Humour

A frustrated journalist at ABA Journal was not able to get an interview with David Kappos, Director of the US Patent & Trademark Office. He wrote a faux business method patent application on how to get an interview.

The story has a happy ending. He has made an appointment with the USPTO chief to do the interview in the next few weeks.

Managing IP in China

In a previous posting on managing intellectual property in China, I said I would outline some practical steps involved. An integrated approach is required to the multiple elements that make up the "secrets to success".

Innovation Lecture

Myths of Innovation

I am taking a break from the IP commercialization discussion to look at where it all comes from.

Here is an interesting talk given by Scott Berkun last year to Carnegie Mellon, his alma mater.

It is a bit over 50 minutes long, so maybe you should wait until you can set aside some time. It is worth it:

Click here for the video.

IP in China

How many times have you heard the following two linked statements?

(1) "We cannot afford to ignore China with its population of 1.3 billion people"
Followed by
(2) ".. but we cannot avoid being ripped off because they have no respect for intellectual property".

Both stereotypes are wrong. They serve as an excuse for bad business and bad management.

Bilski back on the menu

The patent world was tossed into confusion at the Bilski decision. In its aftermath, there was a lot of debating about the implications. What became clear from those discussions is that nobody was satisfied with the outcome and wanted more clarity.

Yesterday the case went to the Supreme Court. It seems to be a high-energy event. The judges have obviously prepared themselves and immediately fired probing questions at both sides of the case.

The world awaits wisdom.

For more in-depth updates, I suggest that you look at Dennis Crouch's Patently-O, Peter Zura's 271 Patent or Gene Quinn's IP Watchdog blogs.

Google's disruptive play

Google's strategy regarding GPS map data is worthy of the label "disruptive". This article shows the attraction for Android as an alternative to iPhone and Blackberry.

The result is cheaper-than-free licensing.

An historic step

ICANN have concluded their meeting and have agreed to introduce non-roman characters in top level domain names. This agreement allows names to be created using Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic and Arabic characters.

It is a huge step in bringing the internet closer to people where English-language dominance would have been a barrier.

A more conservative approach

Previously, I outlined 10 reasons to create an independent IP commercialization business unit. Of course this is not a trivial decision and there are a lot of barriers. Here is a practical route to achieving it.

What a typical patent licensing company does

In a previous posting, I talked about a standalone intellectual property commercialization unit. This post gives examples of the typical skills and activities involved in a patent licensing company. It can equally apply to other forms of IP, such as copyright and trade marks.

University research as the seed?

You have to love Chris Horn

Chris Horn is continuously working to promote innovation as a strong component of future economic development. This is not just theoretical discourse. When he speaks he carries the authority of one has proven himself to be phenomenally successful at bringing innovation to the commercial world.

Ten reasons for a separate IP commercialization business unit

In the past 2 years, there has been a strong movement among corporate IP professionals to promote the office of Chief Intellectual Property Officer (or CIPO). I understand the reasons for this. I also support the move to shine the spotlight on intellectual property management and to give it a central role in firms.

However, I know it is going against the tide of my colleagues in the industry to suggest an alternative structure to centralization of the management of IP.

The missing ingredient in Ireland's Smart Economy Strategy

My two passions are intellectual property and Ireland, the land of saints and scholars. I believe that IP has a role to play in Ireland's future development.

Below is the text of my opinion piece that appears in the current edition of "Business & Finance" magazine (used with permission).