The increasing importance of IP

Becoming part of the business

IP’s growing impact on the world of business was a topic which was identified back in Season 1. In The Rise of IP Strategy, IP expert and author Suzanne Harrison spoke on behalf of IP professionals when she commented:

“We want to show that IP brings value to the firm, and that it’s a it’s a part of the business.”

This value was a point endorsed by Bowman Heiden, visiting professor at UC Berkeley, the guest on The Importance of an IP Mindset:

“The most important thing is to understand that IP people need a business mindset. But also that business people need an IP mindset.”

When the board starts to take notice…

A common situation – which Cipher is well-placed to assist with – is communicating the importance of a patent budget the C-suite, and to board level.

In An Era of IP Transparency, David Kappos asserted:

“[Boards] are interested in these things as business control assets – assets that enable them to have good profit margins, basically, and to counter the moves of their competitors.

“So the boards have become much more sophisticated. I see much more time at board meetings devoted to intellectual asset-based discussions.”

(David is a former Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; in Season 3, Cipher Vision featured the current Director, Kathi Vidal, in Protecting Innovation).

IP in the here and now

By the half-way point of Season 2, our guest Joff Wild made the case for IP becoming mainstream.

“IP underpins many of the key drivers of the 21st century economy.

“You think about things like data, you think about content, you think about innovation and invention, you think about brand – all those are facilitated to an extent, at least by IP rights or related rights.”

Joff’s thoughts are taken from the Bursting the IP Bubble episode.

Continuing the conversation?

Whether you believe the IP bubble has burst, or if it has some way to go in the public consciousness, there’s no doubt that intellectual property is a subject being talked about more than before.