2. How does a patent, trademark, or copyright enable an inventor to monetize her/his/its
invention? Compare the IP appropriability regimes (Pisano & Teece article) in mobile
technology and semi conductors versus video rentals and fine fashion. What accounts for
the differences? Explain the impact these differences have on firms approaches to
managing the knowledge life cycle (see Birkinshaw & Sheehan article) in each industry.
Intellectual property (IP) represents creations of the mind that can be legally owned. These
can be inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs
used in commerce. IP is comprised of 2 categories one of which is Industrial property
namely inventions (patents) and trademarks the other one is Copyright, which engulfs
literary and artistic works.
A Patent is a document, issued to its claimant; that grants him or her sole and exclusive
commercial rights for a limited period of time, usually 20 years.
A trademark can be “any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by
a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them
from those manufactured or sold by others. A trademark is a proprietary term that is
usually registered with the Patent and Trademark Office to assure its exclusive use by its
owner.”
While Trademarks are universally used by the fashion industry, they do not help with the
protection of the designs. Companies in the fashion industry are subject to trademark and
design counterfeiting as well as design piracy.
Copyrights give their holders the right to prevent the illicit copying of original works of
authorship.
A common way to earn money from a patent, trademark or copyright is through Licensing.
The owner grants permission to the licensee for an agreed fee, to perform certain activities
that the patent owner has rights to control such as sell or make the patented invention.
The license may be an exclusive one, where the patent owner consents to only license one
party, or it may be non-exclusive where the patent owner contracts with several parties and
allows all of them equal or different rights or level of use or access.
A patent holder can opt to sell… Instead of licensing, a patent owner may consider selling
his patent. This way the patent owner does not have to pay maintenance fees to the patent
office, pay for legal actions, or worry about downturns in the economy.
Generally, over the long run a patent owner will probably earn more money over time by
