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Using an old tactic, Procter & Gamble will reduce the number of products per package to increase profitability. (‘downsizing’) According to the WSJ, this is in an attempt to recoup costs of innovation without increasing per package price for consumers in these difficult economic times. Does this have anything to do with IP Strategy? Should it? Strategy is about achieving objectives, and whilst you need to adjust your strategy from time… Read More
In my book Outpacing the Competition, I emphasize the importance of sales within the scope of an IP strategy. By sales, I mean the art of selling: prospecting, qualifying, presenting, overcoming objections, closing, and follow up. This, of course, is how IP ultimately realizes value. Somebody by some means needs to sell something, either the IP itself or a solution derived from that IP. When I think of where companies leave the… Read More
Over the weekend I collected and read all the posts that I have written in my two years with Think IP Strategy straight through to pick out the common threads. In doing so one element popped out at me, and I include it here within our list of mistakes. This is the failure to lead. The IP legal profession tends to attract a fairly conservative lot. That has made industry transformation… Read More
Monetary concerns are some of the most common issues out there for IP managers. These concerns stream from limited budgets and the need to balance those limited budgets with comprehensive global protection (from filing IP to assertion, defensive litigation actions and other). Let’s face it, there is always something more that can be done…one more patent filed, one more country covered, one more report requested…. The situation should make getting the most… Read More
Throughout some of my recent discussion with different companies and indeed one of the reoccurring themes since I have a started studying and working in the IP field is how to guide the organization towards capturing IP value and how to effectively do this on an on-going basis. Most often an asset deemed to be “valuable IP” would fall into one or more of the following categories: assets required for the company… Read More
Bloomberg published a nice piece just the other day on common phrases that are trademarked. Here are a few: “It’s gonna be awesome” (The Barbarian Group) “We should talk” (Bank of New York) “That’s a good idea” (Rubbermaid) Readers unaware of how trademarks work would be forgiven for thinking that they can’t use those phrases anymore, or at least in business. Obviously this is wrong – the trademarks cover goods and services… Read More
The strategic principle behind this mistake is one of the classics of strategy. IP is opportunity and not exploiting an opportunity, especially a hard won opportunity, means to make an investment and not seek a reward. IP can be used within product solutions, it can be licensed, or it can otherwise be used to shape relationships with customers, partners, and competitors. It will foster useful interactions or keep others from competing where… Read More
If you look at past issues of IAM from the last 6 months you will see on average one article per month dealing with the topic of reputation management. And for good reason, as social media and increasing access to information now makes it easier for companies both to build and loose reputation… Why talk about IP reputation management though? Because ramification of intellectual property actions can now more and more be… Read More
There may be no better competitive advantage in business than to be able to offer a valuable solution for free for which a rival must receive remuneration to stay in business. The idea follows the line of the business axiom to give away the razors (a durable) for free so that people buy the razor blades (a consumable). It’s a dynamic that, for another illustration, means that there really cannot be a… Read More
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