Companies need defined strategy for managing their intellectual

Companies often aren't aware just how much their intellectual property is worth, according to Jim Adams, chief technology officer of Taeus.

"Most companies do not have a defined strategy for managing their intellectual property," he said. "They know patents are important, and that they may have trade secrets to protect, and trademarks or brands that they use to represent their company or product, but they really don't understand the importance of protecting them and managing them effectively."

He also said that many businesses don't understand how to drive research and development within their organizations to execute a strategy.

"For a company to be successful in the world today, they need to have a plan and understand what they have in their intellectual property portfolio and where they need to go to continue to be competitive in the marketplace," he said.

As an example, Adams cites Inmos, a British semiconductor company which had major operations in Colorado Springs during the 1980s. Inmos sold its assets in 1984 to Thorne EMI, a British company, for more than $200 million.

The deal included Inmos' patent portfolio, comprising more than 150 patents, to which no particular value was assigned.

"Since making that deal," Adams said, "the licensing revenue from those patents has exceeded what Thorne paid for the entire company."

Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.