Columns
According to some theories wemight be at the beginning of thenext golden age of innovation.But then again, we might be wrong
Last month’s IP Investor focused onthe double standard applied topersons who deploy intangibles likepatents for profit, as opposed toinvestors who deal in hard assets.The net-net: real estate moguls arecapitalists; aggressive exploiters ofIP are anti-competitive. The followingare insights from prominent patentowners, managers and advisersabout the IP double standard andwhat can be done to mitigate it
Not only has the FTC recentlypursued an aggressive antitrustenforcement agenda in mattersimplicating IP rights, but it hasrecently taken the ratherextraordinary step of trying to effectchanges to the existing substantivelaws and procedural rules in thepatent field
Features
For many years China has had a terrible reputation among intellectual propertyowners. Undoubtedly huge problems do remain but these have not deterred anumber of IP-rich foreign companies from doing business in the country, And, ifthey know what they are doing, the potential upside is enormous.By Alan Adcock
The results of a recent in-depth survey of Australian companies’ attitudes tointellectual property management have lessons that go far beyond the country.Nowhere is this more so than in the work being done by organisations thathave identified IP rights as key drivers for growth. By Timothy Devinneyand Adam Liberman
During 2003 there were major developments in the world’s intellectual assetmanagement landscape. Some more welcome than others. And it is clear thatthe pace of change shows no signs of letting up. Senior figures from industry,the law and representative organisations explain what they saw as the keyissues of the last 12 months and what we need to be looking out for in 2004.By Joff Wild
The IP rights belonging to a well-managed, buoyant company will be worth a lotmore than those owned by a business on the verge of bankruptcy. The key to asuccessful IP valuation therefore is to understand the reasons why it is beingdone in the first place. By Weston Anson and Daryl Martin
In certain circumstances, patent applications can be more valuable to anorganisation than patents themselves. However, this does not happen byaccident – specific strategies have to be put in place. By Craig Opperman
Insights
In the next few years it is likely thatgeneric biotechnology products will beginto hit the European and Americanmarkets. Biotech companies will try toslow the process down but they cannotstop it. Which should be good news forthem and patients
For 120 years, New York’s Pennie & Edmonds was aspecialist IP law firm with a pedigree second to none.That did not stop it going out of business at the end of2003. Now, with America’s general practice firmsshowing little sign of scaling back their interest inintellectual property, the pressure is on the survivingspecialist firms to keep them at bay
