Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!
Tue, Apr 3, 2007 19:50 EDT
Creating Value from Intellectual Property
|
Posted by: Abbie Lundberg in Best Practices Topic: Enterprise Management
Current Rating: |
We live and work in an increasingly knowledge-based economy. Much of what people produce and consume has no tangible manifestation. Even when it does, the thing that makes that good most valuable and unique – the innovation that sets it apart – does not.
As companies increasingly compete on innovation, and as we continue to digitize everything (IDC predicts we will generate close to 1,000 exabytes of data by 2010) – as that happens, our ability to understand, leverage and protect our intellectual assets is core to the health of our organizations and our economy.
Last month I moderated a panel on The New IP Economy at a meeting of the Executive Council of New York. The discussion took the assumption that at least some portion of that 1,000 exabytes of data is not only materially valuable; it also can and should be accorded property status so it can be valued, leveraged and protected appropriately. (Note: there’s a patent or copyright lawyer in your future if not your present.) We talked about the current state of IP; opportunities and risks; organizational implications, and where things are headed.
The panelists were extremely knowledgeable and brought an eclectic mix of views to the topic. They included Robert Cote, a nationally recognized patent litigator and trial lawyer who is a partner in law firm Orrick's IP litigation group and chair of their software group, and Marshall Phelps, who heads Microsoft's intellectual property groups and oversees the company's management of its intellectual property portfolio (which comprises some 20,000 patents worldwide) and who previously did similar work at IBM.
David Kuttler, vice president of information management architecture in the office of the CIO at Johnson & Johnson, brought an executive management view of leveraging and protecting IP – a view that was shared by Jack Nelson, senior vice president and CIO at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Finally, J. Moses, co-founder and CEO of UGO Networks, an online entertainment network for men age 18 to 34, is more concerned about copyright protection than patents. As other sites have built business models around “user-generated content,” he made the strategic decision not to allow users to upload content to his site. Given last month’s announcement of Viacom’s $1 billion suit of YouTube for copyright infringement, that’s looking like a pretty savvy move.
What Is the New IP Economy?
I launched the
copyright, IP, knowledge management, patents
Abbie:
I found your article disturbing on many levels. It challenges my beliefs as a conservative Republican in the free market system and its level of pure greed. Am I becoming a communist having spent too long in the public sector? As noted, what would be the impact of these concepts on the costs of our health care system? Are generic drug manufacturer’s communist? Finally, is my belief in the value of an open source business model and community misplaced?
I believe not. In the end intellectual property proponents will be overwhelmed and consumed by the open source movement. People who attempt to guard their IP and monetize it will be left in the dust by those who openly share their ideas and contribute to the benefit of the whole. The abandonment of UNIX for LINUX is a case in point. The growth and success of open source firms such as SugarCRM and Compiere are also telling.
In the end I believe the marketplace will value most the free exchange of ideas (IP) by million of collective minds and those individuals or firms attempting to monopolize ideas will be left in the dust.
Bill
Rating:
Bill - You may not be a communist, but you are not a businessman either. It has been pretty well proven that individuals will innovate and excel when they see some sort of gain. In your utopian world, everyone invests and creates IP to give away - why would they do that? Even more importantly, is that good for society? We need to create viable businesses that in turn create jobs and lasting value.
Your UNIX to Linux argument is tired and wrong. Companies - businesses who care about the bottom line -switched to Linux because the overall cost of ownership due to cheap X86 hardware was a compelling business value. They did not do it to share their IP.
Geoff
Rating:
I agree that IP is a significant part of enterprise value, but the protection of IP is not a trivial task. Who at the organization can identify and define precisely what its IP is? Information security, legal, and C-level executives all have a role, but today the biggest struggle is where to start protecting IP and what to do about it.
DRM technologies are a good start but rely on users who know how to classify information—and we know how difficult it is to get users to uniformly apply definitions. In addition, IP definition is complex, amorphous, and difficult. Hence a better approach to IP protection deals with how to automate the detection of IP, how to simplify and abstract this IP, and how to protect it from accidental or malicious disclosure.
The biggest challenge in protecting IP is not simply to recognize that IP has value in itself but to recognize that IP helps determine the real value of organizations—and then to treat IP accordingly.
How Long Have You Been Looking for a Job?
Posted by Meridith Levinson in Questions | 4 comments
5 Myths of Data Center Power Usage Optimization
Posted by Michael Bullock in Best Practices | 2 comments
Microsoft Has Itself a Windows 7 Netbook Pricing Dilemma
Posted by Shane ONeill in News | 1 comments
What a CIO Says, and What He's Really Thinking
Posted by Thomas Wailgum in Soapbox | 11 comments
Android May Lose Netbook Battle to Windows, but Win the War
Posted by Shane ONeill in News | 2 comments
Got something to say? We want to hear it! Click the Post button to get started. GO»
Agile Techniques, Agile Hype and the Essence of Agile [in IT and Business]
5 Myths of Data Center Power Usage Optimization
How Long Have You Been Looking for a Job?
Microsoft Has Itself a Windows 7 Netbook Pricing Dilemma
iPhone 3G S: If You Can't Beat Apple, Join 'Em
How Do You Manage Information Overload?
A good time to wear more hats
iPhone 3G S: Blockbuster Weekend
Persevering in the face of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Take Your Time Moving To Process Based Organizations.
Preparing for the Next Cyber Attack
Ensure you are up-to-speed on the latest security technologies available to keep your network safe in this Executive Guide. Get a thorough assessment of the corporate security threat landscape. Protect your network with data leakage protection, NAC and other technologies explained in this report.
Sponsored by Qwest
Read this Executive Guide »
Cloud Building: 8 Ingredients for Internal Clouds
Cloud computing: a fundamentally new way to deploy IT services and functions cost-effectively and quickly. Learn how the VMware vCloud initiative dramatically improves how consumers access their information and experience applications as well as the 8 ingredients to get you going.
Sponsored by VMWare
Read this White Paper »
Investing in Business Analytics Technology
You're thinking now is the time to take the plunge into business analytics, but you still have some unanswered questions. This research summary addresses the most common questions and concerns surrounding the successful launch of a business analytics initiative. It also includes real-world examples of organizations already getting return on their investment.
Sponsored by SAS
Read this White Paper »
Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.
Sign-up for the Blogs & Discussion Newsletter
