The world’s leading IP strategists have been named in a unique guide published by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM). Jackie Maguire, Coller IP’s CEO explains how pioneering work over the past decade is now being recognised. “Companies are now starting to understand how intangible assets add value to their business. It is so pleasing that all of the initial groundwork in delivering the message on IP Strategy are now being heard by Board directors, and that Coller IP is involved in delivering strategic advice.”
After a year in which IP disputes and deal-making have been front-page news in the mainstream media, the IAM Strategy 300: the World’s Leading IP Strategists identifies individuals whose key skillset is working with IP owners to help them to maximise the value of their patents, copyrights, trademarks and other rights. Coller IP’s Jackie Maguire has been voted into the IAM Strategy 300 for the fourth year running.
Over the course of five months, IAM researchers spoke to a wide range of leading IP professionals in order to identify people considered to be world-class IP strategists: men and women whose business is the creation, development and deployment of strategies that enable IP rights owners to gain maximum value from their portfolios. Only those individuals considered and nominated by their peers to be outstanding IP strategists are listed in the IAM Strategy 300.
During the past 12 months, intellectual property has finally established itself in the minds of senior boardroom executives and investors as a business asset of fundamental importance. From the Nortel patent auction, which raised $4.5 billion, through Google’s $12.5 billion-dollar purchase of Motorola Mobility, to the ongoing smartphone wars, the message is clear: the right IP strategy can give a company operational freedom, while also generating significant bottom-line returns. This is where the individuals named in the IAM Strategy 300 come into play.
Those featured have a wide range of professional backgrounds and reflect the fact that the days when intellectual property was seen as just a legal issue are long gone. In the 2012 edition, many specialisations are featured, including: brokering, defensive patent aggregation, finance, insurance, management consultancy, the law, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, tax and valuation.
“As events over the last year have shown, more companies than ever are seeing that there is significant value residing in their intellectual property,” says IAM editor Joff Wild. The trick, he explains, is to harvest this to the maximum extent possible, whether via sales, licensing, improved alignment with overall business goals, focused internal research and development, enhanced collaboration and more open innovation programmes, better marketing returns and the like.
This is why working with people who know the business of intellectual property inside out, as well as the opportunities that intellectual property presents, is so important. “The IAM Strategy 300: the World’s Leading IP Strategists puts such individuals right in front of the corporates who want to find them. That makes it a uniquely valuable resource,” Wild concludes.
The IAM Strategy 300 is available in printed format and online at http://www.iam-magazine.com/strategy300/.