IP AS A DRIVER AND DIFFERENTIATOR

Transcription

1 IP AS A DRIVER AND DIFFERENTIATOR FOR FINNISH INDUSTRY Functional Materials Winter Conference Paul Kallmes IP Checkups Inc. 11 th December, 2013

2 PRESENTER BACKGROUND: PAUL KALLMES 15+ years of experience in the IP space in a wide range of technologies and settings Electrical engineer and risk manager by training, entrepreneur and project manager by nature Has worked in strategic IP development and deployment for large and small companies, startups, high-tech research labs, consulting firms Former instructor in IP strategy and licensing for the Licensing Executive Society My IP: The experience to help tech companies develop their IP strategies and IP narratives to maximize their chances of success

3 PRESENTER BACKGROUND: PAUL KALLMES This was a project done in 2008 at Lighting Science Group. Some of you will have seen this device, and can see it again soon. Any ideas?

4 PRESENTER BACKGROUND: PAUL KALLMES Its sixth New Year s Eve is coming soon. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed. Statistics: 3.5m in diameter 5,000kg ~30,000 LEDs 100kW power usage $1.4M (2008) IP contribution: Ø

5 IP AS DIFFERENTIATOR AND DRIVER It is commonly stated that intellectual property comprises 80% of the value of the S&P 500 Whatever the actual number, clearly IP is an essential asset in today s business world IP is generally a little-understood asset class The company, industry, or business culture that manages its IP well has a better chance of success Finland has the chance to implement a new and more enlightened approach to IP in its industries With an intelligent and aggressive approach, Finland can do things with its IP development and deployment that no other country does

6 FINLAND S REACH TO THE WORLD Vancouver Toronto SFO/SV LA/SD UAE Shanghai Hong Kong Brazil SA AU

7 A SUITABLE SYMBOL Before this trip to Finland, I was familiar with one famous Finnish name: Eero Saarinen Now I know Dr. Jyrki Saarinen (no relation), and Finland is lucky to have him back in-country Another Saarinen, Eero s father, Eliel, created these durable symbols Most people here will know this image, and it is offered as a gesture of respect for its symbolism These figures are intimidating, iconic, and energyefficient, all of which are ideal attributes

8 Helsinki Central Railway Station

9 Yle/Vesa Marttinen

10 WHAT ARE INTANGIBLE ASSETS? Intangible assets include patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, designs, masks, code, firmware, customer lists, joint venture and supply agreements, etc. IP is a government-granted monopoly and legal right that can be bought, sold, traded, and lost Intangible assets need appropriate and flexible strategies to guide their creation and deployment Different companies will have different mixes of their IP, depending on resources and planned uses IP needs continuous attention from the outset, if at all possible, ideally with a due-diligence mindset

11 An important patent application: the first one filed by Thomas Edison for the incandescent light bulb, in Edison was an active enforcer of his IP. The patent landscape has changed considerably. Today there are about 120,000 patents in the LED space alone.

12 WHAT IP DOES FOR A COMPANY It protects your technology, products, brands, market niche, investment and enterprise value/valuation Shows stakeholders that you recognize and actively protect your core knowledge bases Provides freedom to practice and the ability to exclude competitors from your market space Keeps employees focused on recognizing and capturing IP whenever and wherever it is encountered Establishes and maintains your company s position in the ever-evolving IP landscape

13 WHAT IS THE IP LANDSCAPE? The IP landscape describes the distribution and proximity of IP that affects you, both in and outside your business IP landscapes shift over time because of companies entering and exiting a field, M&A, patent issuance and expiration, legal judgments, and other factors The astute IP manager will track relevant changes in the IP landscape and react accordingly IP from outside your company s field of practice can affect you through precedent, for example the recent Apple v. Samsung decision on cell phone geometry

14 PHOSPHOR PATENT TRENDS

15 PATENT MONITORING TOOLS Patent landscape map, top 5 companies in technology

16 OLED Patent Landscape ~ 50,000 Documents Where are Kodak s OLED Canon, patents focused? What about about in relation relation to Samsung, Samsung, Samsung? Canon, Sony What in to Canon Sony, and Philips? What was Kodak doing? Map generated with Aureka Themescape

17 ONE VIEW OF IP MANAGEMENT

18 HIGH-LEVEL IP MANAGEMENT POINTS The methods that turn intangible assets into productive, long-term, strategically managed assets Establish the business objectives of an IP program Develop an appropriate strategy to reflect the business drivers Identify the core of your IP generation and output Align the necessary resources to implement IP processes Build cooperation among contributors and stakeholders Understand external IP and the competitive landscape Manage the portfolio along agreed-upon lines Regularly examine and refine IP strategy and progress Keep everyone informed and up-to-date There is no one size fits all approach to IP management

19 EXAMPLE: THE IMPACT OF IP IN LEDs A small LED lighting company created a patent portfolio that dominated the industry for over a decade Starting in 1997, they filed patents relentlessly Patent office missed lots of prior art Industry objected to claims on technology from the 1960s Fear of lawsuits kept major players out of markets Bought by a major company for 10.5x top-line The portfolio remains at the center of the industry And to this day, some people still hate the name

20 TWO IDEAS FOR FINLAND S IP MANAGEMENT The Introduction of IP Education at the Secondary School Level The Establishment of a National IP Holding Company freeworldmaps.net, 2013

21 FINLAND S HEAD START The skills of Finnish students were among the best in all domains assessed in PISA surveys. The uniformity of students performance is a special forte in Finland. The differences between the strongest and weakest results are among the smallest in survey. Differences between schools and regions are also remarkably small in Finland. Differences in performance were very slight between various language groups in Finland, and the socioeconomic back-ground has a lower impact on students' performance... Source: Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture: OECD PISA Survey

22 FINLAND S HEAD START The impressive achievements of Finland s educational system have created a platform for IP education 10 th -12 th graders could learn the basics about IP the same way they learn other essential life skills More advanced training could be provided in college to those who wanted to pursue it Imagine a generation of entrepreneurs who don t need to have their hands held when it comes to IP After all, what is education but the mass cultivation of unique IP in each and every student?

23 FINNISH OPPORTUNITIES ABROAD The state of STEM education in the US is nowhere near the top of the international tables As a result, there is a shortage of highly-educated, home-grown talent for the next gen of start-ups Someone must, can, and will fill that void: Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do markets Finland is ideally positioned to supply a meaningful portion of the talent to drive technology forward Perhaps Finnish companies can teach Americans about the value of STEM education

24 SEE WHAT I MEAN?

25 A NATIONAL IP HOLDING COMPANY IP can be managed as an independent asset in a so-called IP holding company (IPHC) Large companies use them: HP put all their IP in an IPHC when a new CEO came in the mid-2000 s Finnish industry, academia and government could create a sovereign IP fund for use by Finnish companies This might entail unprecedented cooperation but could create a potentially very valuable asset It could also relieve considerable stress from companies by leveraging IP expertise across many platforms There is nothing like it out there today

26 Raisio needed some IP, so they went to Intellectual Ventures, a private patent broker in the US, to get access to it. Intellectual Ventures see fit to advertise their work with Raisio on their home page.

27 And finally, some inspirational imagery from my hometown of Gloucester, MA (where The Perfect Storm happened)

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31 Finnish stonemasons carved these messages in Gloucester, MA, 100+ years ago

32 AND KEEP IN MIND When it comes to IP, due diligence requires eternal vigilance

33 AND KEEP IN MIND When it comes to IP, due diligence requires eternal vigilance or, to put it another way: Kun tullaan IP:hen, due diligence vaatii jatkuvaa tarkkaavaisuutta

34 Thank you! Paljon kiitoksia!