Edison in the Boardroom..Value from Intellectual Assets

Today's corporations are always on the lookout for exciting new and innovative ideas that can be used to generate revenue. Up until recently, this meant taking these ideas and turning them into products or services, which could then be sold for profit. But today, a unique new concept is revolutionizing the way companies are getting value from ideas. Instead of incorporating them into products or services, today's innovations may be bartered, licensed or sold in the "idea" stage for tremendous amounts of money. For example, IBM currently receives well over $1 billion in revenue every year from licensing its intellectual property, unrelated to the manufacture of a single product. Today more and more companies are adopting this idea of turning their legal departments, where intellectual property is housed, from cost centers into profit centers.

Edison in the Boardroom: How Leading Companies Realize Value from Their Intellectual Assets takes an in-depth look at the revolutionary concept of Intellectual asset management (IAM). IAM is changing the way companies all over the world are doing business. In their careers as business consultants, the authors have been privileged to meet individuals who were clearly ahead of their time when it came to realizing value from their companies' innovations. Based on their interactions with the ICM Gathering--an international group of companies who meet several times a year to create, define and benchmark best practices in the area of IAM--the authors have compiled a wealth of knowledge and successful stories that illustrate how far businesses have come in their ability to leverage and monetize their intellectual assets.

Incorporating stories and teachings from some of the most successful companies in the worlds -- such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Rockwell, Dow, Ford and many others -- the authors have made an exhaustive study of IAM and its implications for today's businesses. They have culled a hierarchy of best practices that today's companies can integrate into their own business philosophies to gain the best return from their intellectual assets.
Leading Companies Tell Their Secrets of Realizing Value From Their Intellectual Assets

• Aurigin Systems, Inc.
• Brookings Institution
• Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
• The Dow Chemical Company
• DuPont
• Ford Global Technologies Inc.
• Fortum Group
• Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich
• H.B. Fuller Company
• Hewlett-Packard Company
• IBM
• ipCapital Group, Inc.
• Litton Industries
• MatrixLinks International Inc.
• Procter & Gamble
• Rockwell International Corp.
• SAIC
• SC Johnson
• Sprint
• Vincent & Associates
• VAI Patent Management, Inc.

"Edison in the Boardroom offers the reader something that is hard to find–a clear perspective and roadmap that shows how patent assets fit on the corporate landscape. Here is a resource that business executives can consult time and again to navigate in the world of patents."––Stephen P. Fox, Hewlett-Packard Company

"Davis and Harrison masterfully synthesize firsthand accounts into practical advice for the intellectual asset manager. In an informative and easy style, they bridge the gap between best practices in an emerging field and the needs of managers for real-world solutions. It’s a must-read for everyone interested in increasing returns from intellectual assets."––Jim O’Shaughnessy, Rockwell

"Edison in the Boardroom reveals the winning strategies employed by some of today’s biggest companies in maximizing the value of their intellectual property. Well written and extremely readable."––Jerry Rosenthal, IBM

"Lots of books spout theory and the philosophy of Intellectual Asset Management. What Davis and Harrison provide in Edison in the Boardroom is frankly much more valuable–a practical and ‘real-world vetted’ guide to getting started and building a viable value extraction business!"––Jeff Weedman, Procter & Gamble

"Edison in the Boardroom is an excellent source book for the beginner in extracting value from intellectual property. Additionally, it is a valuable resource for those who consider themselves as experienced in the field. I know that I learned several new best practices that I plan to apply to my business."––Henry Fradkin, Ford Global Technologies, Inc.