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On a day in 1970, a well-known comic strip called Pogo had environmental protection as its subject for the day. Upon seeing the environment littered with trash, the character Pogo stated, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” This statement yields a universal truth quoted by strategy practitioners in many fields that certainly applies to IP strategy as well. The greatest source of friction that prevents most organizations from achieving… Read More
Perhaps for the first time in history, humankind has the capacity to create far more information than anyone can absorb, to foster far greater interdependency than anyone can manage, and to accelerate change far faster than anyone’s ability to keep pace (Peter Senge – author of “The fifth discipline: the art and practice of learning organizations”). In business reality being satisfied with status quo is like trying to swim against the current… Read More
How would you react if you were forced into a commoditised positioning? Check out these car rental companies and what happens to them at airports around the world for just a taste. So how to react? From a business standpoint, if ‘Thrifty’ really means ‘we are the cheapest’ – then make your signage black and white and put up a brightly coloured sign saying ‘We will beat any price from these guys… 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
What is an ideal strategy and would you know one if it bit you? Why bother with it anyway? The ideal strategy is a strategy that provides 100% of the desired benefit and 0% drawback. It is a theoretical target given the mathematical reality that 1/0 (where whole benefit = 1, and no drawback = 0) does not exist – all strategies have drawbacks. A key question to ask, when planning IP… Read More
‘Think globally, act locally’ – but do you really mean it? This has been the slogan of many multinationals during the years but still many fail in this respect. The new wave of expansions into China, India and Indonesia give probably the most vivid examples of the need to think locally: understand the culture, find key partners, understand the legal constraints and develop IP and business strategies that work within the given… Read More
In some situations, filing IP very early in the invention cycle can actually do harm and perhaps kill the potential commercial prospects for an invention. Earlier blogs in this series have highlighted speed of action as a way to achieve competitive advantage. Speed to file IP, speed to publish, speed to invent. But to quote a well-known public vehicle information commercial “speed kills”. Put another way, the early bird can arrive too… Read More
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