From the Inside Flap
Patents and patent strategies are playing a bigger role in information age technologies such as telecommunications, the Internet, and computers. The new services and products being offered require technologies from previously segregated markets. The distinctions between these markets are blurring, with many companies utilizing technologies now residing in a "common market." As a result, competition between businesses is changing. A single patent owned by a business can be worth millions-or even tens of millions-of dollars and can be highly pertinent to key partner relationships the business may enter into. They can affect the bottom line, the balance sheet, the value of the company as a whole-and, most critically, if the key patents are owned by a competitor, a command of the market.
For example, businesses are using patents as a weapon to hinder competitors from encroaching on their developed technology and as a shield to deter others from forcing them out of their own market. Recently acquired companies like WebTV and Amati Communications each commanded substantial purchase prices due in large part to their substantial patent portfolios. However, a lack of attention to patents has caused companies problems. For example, in 1993, Eastman Kodak terminated one of its subsidiaries after Wang Laboratories, Inc., brought a patent infringement suit against the subsidiary.
This book illustrates the impact, both positive and negative, that patents can have on a technology-driven business's tactical and strategic efforts. Here you will find step-by-step guidance to the patent process, the laws, and basic strategies-from a business-goal perspective-so middle and upper-level managers can recognize the significance of patents in relation to the business and can incorporate proper patent management efforts into their business framework.
From the Back Cover
FROM PATENT TO PROFIT
Patents and patent strategies are increasingly pertinent to the success of information age businesses, from affecting valuations to gaining tax advantages to increasing the starting price per share when taking a company public. Patent Strategy illustrates the impact patents can have on technology-driven businesses' tactical and strategic efforts. Here is step-by-step guidance to the patent process, the laws, and basic strategies-from a business-goal perspective-so that middle and upper-level managers can recognize the significance of patents in relation to a particular business and can incorporate proper patent management efforts into their business framework. In addition, this book serves as an invaluable reference for management and executives when making patent-related decisions such as whether a patent infringement study must be performed; whether the budget for patent matters should be increased or decreased; whether attempts should be made to license certain patent technology; and whether the firm should sue for patent infringement.
* Case studies throughout the book give you a specific business context within which to consider the concepts introduced
* Statistics are presented to assist you in assessing various issues, planning patent strategies, and implementing patent management programs
