The fearless CIPO
Crazy as it sounds, Chief IP Officers may well have to be fearless. Here’s a quote from Bill Elkington of Rockwell Collins (the leading Communications and Aviation Electronics company) in relation to my recent Release the Tweets post.
My take on it is that CIPOs are out there trying to change long held views of the world and trying to communicate about concepts that are global and constantly evolving.
What do you think?
"Duncan, Amazing list of thoughts. Yes, IPBC was quite a stimulating conference. A powerful set of ideas. Thank you for writing yours down. One of the thoughts that rises to the top for me is the idea that the CIPO or the aspiring CIPO needs to be fearless, needs to be willing to stand on the parapet, etc. Why is this? Is this because IP in corporations is an entrepreneurial field right now? Or is it because senior leadership in most companies has little education in the field? Or is it because the theory is in its infancy? Or is it because, as you suggest, that the role of the CIPO is first of all as the leader of organizational change–change in strategic thinking, change in organizational roles and responsibilities, change in how the organization defines itself?"
(Photo Credit: BombDog)
3 Comments on “The fearless CIPO”
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Standing on the parapet with only legal strategies for IP should be scary. If IP professionals want to be really valuable, they need to understand the full knowledge infrastructure of a company, what needs to be protected legally, what can/should be protected in other ways and what should be available to the company’s community. In this sense, the CIPO should really be the Chief Intellectual Capital Officer.
Hi MaryThanks very much. Can you expand on your rationale for swapping the CIPO for a CICO?I know that our readers will be very interested and I suspect it will be worth a separate blog post.RegardsDuncan
Hi Duncan-IP is a valuable segment of the knowledge capital of a business because it has specific legal protection. While lawyers will include lots of other forms in boiler plate descriptions of protected property, the truth is the IP strategies principally focus on patents and trademarks.Intellectual Capital (IC) is a perspective that tries to capture all the knowledge available to an organization. Here’s a definition: http://www.i-capitaladvisors.com/2009/03/10/intangible-definitions/#more-735.IC is protected as IP where possible but the most important (and most common) way of protecting it is through creation of a sound business model, an ecosystem where knowledge is operationalized and monetized. Lately, I have been experimenting with Lego’s to illustrate how this dynamic works http://www.i-capitaladvisors.com/2009/07/15/why-should-you-model-your-intellectual-capital/Who should be in charge of this? We are wrestling with this in a book under development with our partner. The answer isn’t clear yet. The skills required draw from the COO, CTO and, yes, the CIPO.Lots to talk about. I look forward to continuing the conversation!