Profiting from your genius


In the world of business there are many people who are ruthlessly searching for a leading edge that will help them profit at your expense. Stealing ideas and diminishing reputations both within and outside the law has become a fact of life in the knowledge economy.

In this knowledge economy the industries which are creating in-demand assets such as licensing fees, branding and royalties have become the ˜movers and shakers of twenty-first century business. For example, it is estimated that by 2006 half US work placements will be employed in knowledge-generating industries for their primary sources of wealth. Here competitive advantage depends on the ability to stimulate and capture knowledge, and reduce the risk of losing intellectual assets, talent and know-how elsewhere. So it is not surprising that intellectual property protection is now a major concern of thousands of businesses worldwide, particularly given how easy it is now to publish and send vital secrets to a cast of millions by cyberspace or the mass media in a fraction of a second.

To highlight why the protection of intellectual property (IP) is so important let us take the story of retired managing director, Frank Bannigan, who in 1972 developed the Kambrook electrical power-board which is now commonplace in most homes . As the IP Australia tells on their web site at www.ipaustralia.gov.au, it was not patented and when it hit the marketplace Kambrook ended up sharing many dollars with a host of other manufacturers. According to Mr Bannigan, ˜I ve probably lost millions of dollars in royalties alone. When I go into a department store and see the wide range of power- boards on offer, it always comes back to haunt me.

The lesson of Kambrook is not unique. It is repeated many times a year in most countries throughout the world. Probably the most famous case was the Wright Brothers. Popular history tells the tale of how the Wright brothers on 17 December 1903 were the first to complete the first powered flight. This is not true. It was a little known New Zealander, Richard Pearse, who completed the first flight some eighteen months earlier on 31 March 1902 in New Zealand at Waitohi. In fact, Pearse completed at least half a dozen recorded flights before the Wright brothers were ever successful. Sadly for Pearse, it was 1909 before any newspaper covered the story of his amazing success. By then it was far too late, the Wright brothers had already gained massive international exposure and recognition. Even now, some 100 years later, most people have never heard of Richard Pearse. This story is another example of why it is so important to protect, manage and market your IP and market your success.

Let us begin with sound grounding principles of IP. To win the knowledge game it is imperative that your business takes a series of legal and business steps to protect your genius, whether it is an invention, a trade secret, a brand or a piece of creative work. In saying this, a business should never lose sight of three fundamentals. First, just because you have a registered trademark, patent and copyright does not guarantee you business success. These need to be backed up with a comprehensive marketing and business strategy. Second, good IP is only a small part of what you need; you must stimulate and grow a workplace environment that celebrates ingenuity and enterprise as a natural part of the business psyche. The fact that you have a patent listed on your company accounts may look good, but unless you back it up with hard work your efforts will be wasted . Finally, be prepared to think well outside your own country to safeguard your interests and be prepared to register your IP rights in overseas markets as well.

In this regard you have to think deeply about your product, business and market. For example, a senior scientist in a biotechnology business, Gradipore, estimates that on average it costs them between US$30 000 and US$50 000 to take a patent application to the right national and international coverage. This cost does not include the cost of redesign and testing of the patent. While in a recent case where a legal judgement was required, it cost around US$50 000 for an opinion.

So, as you can sense, the protection of your IP needs to be done in the right way. It is not something you can normally handle on your own. You will need assistance from a host of people, including government agencies who supervise the registering of trademarks, patents and copyrights, IP attorneys and a host of other professionals who can give advice on funding, marketing, manufacture and distribution. However, when approaching these people be careful to keep your cards close to your chest and develop relationships based on a need-to-know basis with clearly understood and articulated confidentiality agreements.

When protecting IP you also need to be prepared for some legal ambiguity, particularly when it comes to stopping people from sharing their knowledge. For example, Jac Fitz-enz in his book, The ROI of Human Capital , says, ˜it is relatively easy to slap a brand, trademark, copyright or patent number on a piece of intellectual property. It is a bit more bewildering to find a method for putting one s brand on the human brain . A judicial battleground has now formed , with lawsuits flying in all directions trying to establish a body of legal precedents for intellectual assets. For example, Apple spent millions and nearly became insolvent trying to protect its PC windows concept against Microsoft. Sun Microsystems was able to win its case on the propriety nature of Java (a browser software) against Microsoft but it took many years. It is a very tough field, but if you do the basics right you will be on much stronger ground.

Consider the common dilemma of a family friend whom I will call George. George is a stockbroker in a medium- sized firm in Sydney. At a Christmas cocktail party I raised the idea of sharing knowledge. His response greatly interested me. He said that sharing your knowledge may be a very noble idea but it could mean contemplating professional suicide. If you share more than you have to, people will know everything that you know and your security is threatened. Once your knowledge is visible the organization can protect it and restrict you using it as they see fit. The result being an impasse, where George shares enough to get the job done but probably nothing more. Quite simply, his company is not reaping the full potential of George and his know-how.

If only George could be encouraged to be a little more open , his capability could grow as he begins to review and question his assumptions, relationships and frameworks. No doubt, under the current stalemate both parties are losing. Of course, this situation will worsen further if George actually does leave and his knowledge has not been captured. This may result in a serious loss of competitive advantage if vital IP and business relationships have not been protected. I am not assuming , of course, that George would act unethically or break the law. So it is imperative that business has the counterintelligence measures to ensure that vital knowledge is protected.

One way to do this to ensure IP is protected with excellent confidentiality agreements for all forms of employment, whether for one-off contractor relationships, full-time employment contracts or when termination occurs. It is imperative that people know that they can be employed and leave on good terms, and obligations and rights of inventors are safeguarded.

Effective processes must be used to reduce risk. For example, people often have access to important databases and, as a result, have the opportunity to download or copy vital knowledge as well as causing possible disruption to services. So, you will need to supplement IP strategies with adequate security such as changing passwords and restricting access. This is particularly important in high staff turnover areas.

At the time of departure various risk management conversations may need to be carried out to explore the potential for brain drain or loss of know-how. Examples of questions could include:

  • What proprietary knowledge did the employee compile and where is it stored?

  • Who are the employee s key customer contacts and business relationships?

  • What important knowledge did the person hold and will its loss hurt the business?

In addition, you may grab the opportunity to quiz the departing individual on what could be done to improve how the business could better stimulate, share and act on their know-how. Of course, in most situations this is far too late, as was discussed in the previous chapter on sustaining and keeping talent, it would be much better to explore such topics and his or her motivation well before the moment of termination or departure actually occurs.

To sum up, every business will need a combination of different approaches to profit and benefit from your genius. You might start by deploying a stick approach where an employment contract would spell out penalties for taking expertise, clients and contacts in the marketplace elsewhere. Alternatively, you might deploy a carrot approach whereby you organize a targeted accelerated development programme for key people who have vital skills, knowledge and capabilities, thereby building a business relationship which recognizes talent and encourages them to share more by investing a greater amount in people s development. That way you may just increase the chance that everyone wins for longer period.

Given the complexity and legality of this field here are a number of definitions in Table 10.1 to help start you off. I strongly recommend you visit the following web sites for deeper and more up-to-date commentary :

Table 10.1: Intellectual property--help desk

The listing in this help desk draws on a host of resources across the globe. It is important to double-check the accuracy and context of these in your region and country. You will also need to note that different common law and statute provisions will apply.

Assignment is when a patent, design, trademark, copyright or trade secret is sold and/ or transferred to another party. An assignment must be in writing and signed by or on behalf of the owner for it to be legally effective.

Confidentiality agreements are legal documents that aim to protect matters of agreed importance from causing damage, harm, or becoming public.

Copyright protects the rights of the original creator or the innovator of creative work. These include tangible mediums of expression, such as a book, screenplay, training module, drawing, recording and broadcasting. This is a rapidly changing field and many countries have amended their legislation to have a more realistic coverage within the context of the digital age. As a rule of thumb, copyright does not protect ideas, but rather the way that ideas are expressed . Copyright is designed to protect you economically (that is, your economic right) and your reputation (that is, your moral right). In this regard the moral right is much harder to transfer.

Cybersquatting describes the practice of deliberately registering domain names which are the same as, and/or similar to, famous organizations, brands or people.

Design is a feature of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation, which is applied to a product. In design the emphasis is typically on the visual appearance, for example a fabric design or the shape of a bar stool, rather than how it works.

E-law is an emerging body of law relating to the Internet and electronic commerce. In some cases existing defamation law can be applied to digital communication but there are emerging fields such as domain name protection (cybersquatting).

Intellectual Property , sometimes called propriety knowledge, refers to property of your mind or intellect. In law it gives the right to use and commercialize, to prevent others from using and marketing, and as a lever for negotiation.

Legal protection occurs under a range of sources including common law, infringements of trade secrets, passing off of trademarks and breach of confidentiality agreements. A range of consumer protection and fair trading legislation normally backs up your legal rights. For a trade secret, the owner must demonstrate that measures were taken to protect it, such as limiting distribution, securing it and appropriately classifying its documentation. As a general rule this will cover a bundle of IP, including a large array of possibilities such as patents, copyright, trademarks, registered designs, confidential information, domain and business names, plant breed and circuit layouts.

Licence gives to another party the right to use but not own the copyright, patent, trademark or design. The owner normally receives payments or royalties for use based on a commercial agreement. Licences can also be exclusive or non-exclusive in nature.

Passing off is where a person or company is deliberately trying to injure the business, or goodwill of the legitimate organization.

Patents are a monopoly granted to inventors who have created something innovative. In return for a patent, the inventor has to reveal how this invention works. The normal length of a patent is twenty years for a substantial difference in an invention and eight years for a non-obvious innovation of existing technology. The criteria for granting a patent are that it must be able to be manufactured, be new, involve an innovative step and be useful, such as protection of new plant varieties. What can be patented varies from country to country. For example, software and algorithms are accepted in Singapore and the USA but some other countries do not include these options. In Australia artistic creations, mathematical models, plans or a purely mental process currently cannot be registered. So, again, check with your local authority for correct definition.

Registered rights are where you register patents, trademarks, designs or plant breeders rights (for new plant varieties) with a local country authority.

Trademarks are protection given to names, letters , words, symbols, pictures, sounds or smells, or combinations of these. They are used to distinguish goods or services from other providers. Examples could be a word like Xenical which is a distinguishing name for a drug owned by F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG in Switzerland. Slogans like ˜Oh what a feeling! used by a car manufacturer Toyota in past advertising is also a registered trademark.

Unregistered rights are those common law protections such as copyright and circuit layout rights, which you are not required to register.

  • Australian Copyright Council “ www.copyright.org.au

  • Centre for Law in the Digital Economy (CLIDE) “ www.law.monash.edu.au/clide

  • Copyright and Intellectual Property “ www.disastercenter.com/copyrite.htm

  • General Law Resources “ www.megalaw.com

  • Intellectual Property Australia “ www.ipaustralia.gov.au

  • Ministry of Law “ www.minlaw.gov.sg

  • Oz Net Law “ www.oznetlaw.net

  • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) “ www.wipo.org




Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
ISBN: 750658096
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 129

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net