Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• acknowledge the relevance of intellectual property (IP) in today’s technology and innovation systems and colloborative innovation processes.
• understand how to strategically manage IP to achieve and maintain competitive advantage.
• be able to develop IP strategies that support long term business success.
• know how to use IP data and analytics to support business related decision making.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of IP management.
• understand and apply relevant concepts, frameworks, tools and theories introduced during the module.
• be enabled to interact with professionals (managers, R&D engineers, lawyers) in IP related business conversations.
• understand the opportunities strategic IP management can create to develop and maintain competitive advantage.

Content

The module builds on the state of the art in strategic IP management thinking for maximizing value appropriation from predominatenly technological innovations. By definition, IP is an interdisciplinary concept. In the module we emphasise an engineering management perspective on IP, the module also touches on related concepts from law and economics. During the module we  will run exercises, discuss examples, and a more indepth case study. The Dolby story is a facinating case of how IP strategies evolve along the development of one of the most successful licensing businesses, particularly with Dolby's strong link to Cambridge as a Pembroke alumni.

IP strategies differ across industries. While pharmaceutical companies typically rely on relatively small patent portfolios, firms in the electornics and ICT sectors typically have larger and more divers IP portfolios and employ different IP strategies. For students to gain an understanding of the different IP approaches in different sectors, we bring in guest speakers with strong experience in different sectors. In addition, guest speakers from governmental organisations, such as the European Patent Office (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) enhance students' learning experience by providing insights into the functioning of IP systems.

1. Innovation and the need for strategic IP management (Guest speaker: European Patent Office - EPO)

This session will introduce the module structure, the assessment exercise and set the scene by explaining why strategic IP management has become increasingly relevant for many industries over the last decades. 

·         Introduction to the patent system

·         Digital economy, multi-technology products and the IP complexity challenge

·         The rise of open / cumulative innovation and open source and the need for collaborative and open innovation

·         Incentives to innovate, motives to patent, and the patenting paradox

·         Intellectual assets, intellectual capital and intellectual property

2. IP systems, prosection and litigation & searching and analysing patent data 

While it is expected that students have read the pre-course reading material, this session revisits some of the IP basics and covers some of the legal and IP system issues, e.g. by introducing relevant legal frameworks.

·         Formal and informal IP rights (appropriability regimes)

·         Patenting procedures and renewals

·         Ownership and reassignments

·         Counterfeits, patent quality, infringement and litigation

·         Patent databases, search strategies and indicators for analysing patent data (patent landscaping and mining)

·         Technology foresight, intelligence, understanding competitors and identifying weak signals (emerging and disruptive technologies) 

·         AI, machine and deep learning approaches for IP analytics

3. Technology, strategic and economic value as fundamental concept for effective IP management (Guest speaker: World Intellectual Property Organisation - WIPO)

This session introduces students to the concept of value with its various dimensions, established as well as emerging approaches for valuing intangible assets. Being able to put a "price tag" on an intellectual assets is as fundamental to firms' making decison than knowing what tangible assets are worth, but just a tiny little bit more challenging. 

·         The concept of value and value dimensions (strategic, economic, technological)

·         The value of data in the AI age

·         Established and emerging valuation approaches for intangible assets

4. Mastering markets for technology and licensing

This session introduces tothe relevant concepts around technology markets, particularly in the context of open innovation, the different actors on the supply and demand side (in the innovation ecosystem) as well as intermediaries and relevant managerial issues regarding licensing.

·         Supply and demand sides of markets for technologies, innovations and data

·         Technology market intermediaries, NPEs and patent trolls

·         The micro and macro IP ecosystem

·         Licensing models, contracts, royalty rates, negotiations 

·         IP based business models

·         Standard essential patents and FRAND

5.  Managing IP in collaborative innovation processes & IP risk management (Guest speaker: Pharmaceutical industry)

The session introduces considerations in collaborative innovation and IP associated risks.

·         Mangaing IP in open, collaborative and distributed innovation processes

·        Contracts and ownership considerations 

·        Reputational, operational and strategic IP associated risks

·        IP risk assessment and mitigation strategies

·        IP management in R&D collaborations (open innovation paradox)

6. Developing effective IP strategies (Guest speaker: Medical device industry)

This session focuses on different IP strategies as well as tools and toolkits that can be deployed to developed IP strategies. 

·         IP strategies for maximizing value creation and capture

·         IP strategy typologies

·         Strategies for accelerating technology diffusion (patent pledges)

·         IP acquisition and exploitation / commercialization strategies for inbound and outbound innovation

·         Tools and toolkits for developing IP strategies

7. Dolby case study & the future of IP management (Guest speaker: Global engineering)

In this session students will discuss the Dolby case study and hear some concepts and ideas that will change the way how IP will be used to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Students will hear from a guest speaker how a global engineering company develop and deployed a sophisticated IP management system across multinational divisions. 

·         Challenges for organizations IP cultures when firms move towards more effective, value driven IP management

·         Organizational principles and processes (incentive systems, invention disclosure) for effective IP management

·         IP challenges in mergers and acquisitions (due diligence, disassembly problem)

·         Effectively managing actors in the IP ecosystem       

8. Strategic IP management and innovation – the full picture (Guest speaker: Electronics / ICT / IoT industry)

This session will bring together the content, frameworks, concepts and tools of all lecture in a guest lecture and wrap-up session.