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.