From R&D/Technology Management to IP/IC Management

Book chapter, 2004

The emergence of the pro-patent era in the US in the 1980s is symptomatic of a transition towards intellectual capitalism. As a consequence IP issues have entered the agendas of strategic management in industry at large, while previously handled by specialists in the periphery of management attention. As a result there are often missing links between IP strategies and business strategies. This chapter presents a conceptual framework for IP strategies, technology strategies and business strategies which can be used to link these levels of strategic management. In particular the chapter illustrates various patent strategies in technology space and over time, together with some results from a study of corporate practices in Japan. Finally, the chapter introduces the wider notions of multiprotection and total IP strategies as an approach to analysing all elements of a business and how to match them properly with all available IPR types. The ultimate function of strategic management of IP is then to build up the total value of an IP portfolio as part of the company’s intellectual capital. For this purpose, distributed intellectual capital management is proposed, requiring in turn a closer integration of technology, law and economics.