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Sullivan, Patrick H. --- "Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Management" [2009] ELECD 484; in Castle, David (ed), "The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Biotechnology Innovation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Biotechnology Innovation

Editor(s): Castle, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847209801

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Management

Author(s): Sullivan, Patrick H.

Number of pages: 13

Extract:

4. Fundamentals of intellectual
property management
Patrick H. Sullivan

The field of intellectual property (IP) management has developed signifi-
cantly since the mid-1980s. IP has moved beyond the narrow purview of
the corporation's legal department into the broader arenas of business
tactics and strategy. Any conversation about the role of intellectual prop-
erty in a business or an industry, such as biotechnology, demands that par-
ticipants be aware of the range of opportunities and practices that underlie
IP and IP management.
The rich and well-established business literature on IP management
falls into two major groups: IP as a legal asset and IP as a business asset.1
These two views of intellectual property are quite different in nature, and
are typically held by different sets of people within a corporation. Those
who hold the `legal asset' view of IP, usually attorneys or people with legal
training, are interested in providing legal protection for the organization's
innovations. Their view is primarily (although not entirely) defensive:
like builders of fortifications, their goal is to create a safe and strong set
of walls to keep out attackers who threaten to steal the organization's
intellectual treasures. These people seek to create the strongest possible
legal barriers to competitors and, with only rare offensive forays against
individual infringers, position the organization behind strong defenses.
On the other hand, those for whom IP is primarily a business asset tend to
focus on maximizing the organization's revenues and profits. For them, ...