How does competition among companies affect the transaction costs of patent portfolios? The answer helps us understand the economics behind different IP governance structures, such as licenses (in-licensing, out-licensing, cross-licensing), joint ventures, and patent pools. Prevously, I described how the transaction costs of allocating intellectual property rights influence merger and acquisition strategy. For this discussion, I focus...
Do more lawyers mean lower wages for lawyers? The legal blogosphere has been abuzz since Mark Greenbaum argued in the Los Angeles Times that too many new lawyers drives down lawyers' wages. However, Mr. Greenbaum's argument is based on misunderstandings of competition in the legal industry. To summarize, Mr. Greenbaum contends that there are too...
Companies are increasingly forcing their outside counsel to offer an alternative fee for legal work. Pfizer is the latest example. The pharmaceutical giant recently formed the Pfizer Legal Alliance, a group of nineteen law firms who will provide legal services for the entire year for a flat fee. Pfizer's general counsel, Amy Schulman, leads the...
The recent Berkeley Stanford CleanTech Conference on the Smart Grid made clear that the smart grid is in its infancy. Energy providers must solve the challenges of new energy sources, regulatory organization, and the energy needs of electric vehicles. The Key Challenge For The Smart Grid Keynote speaker Andrew Tang of PG&E framed the primary...
Companies are increasingly competing to be green. The news is full of corporate initiatives concerning sustainability and environmental impact. What metrics are companies using to measure greenness, and do they make sense? Newsweek's Green Rankings Newsweek just released its first Green Rankings of the Standard & Poor's 500. The following factors were used to rank...
Will the smart grid develop through proprietary intellectual or open innovation? To what extent can both contribute to the smart grid's growth? The answers to these questions will have a huge influence on how the smart grid works and what it ultimately does for energy efficiency. In this post, I offer a few thoughts on...
China's Anti-Monopoly Law, implemented in August 2008, continues to take shape. The National Development and Reform Commission recently issued draft regulations regarding price monopolies. The proposed regulations apply to monopoly price activities both within and outside China, when the activities outside China affect price competition in the domestic market. What The Proposed Regulations Cover The...
After last week's WTO ruling regarding China's importation of copyrighted materials, China has announced that it will appeal the decision. What are the implications of the appeal? Reasons For China's Appeal China has given two related responses to the WTO ruling. First, China contends that the importation of copyrighted materials, including music, books, and movies...
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that China improperly curbs imports of books, music, and movies. While it is tempting to view the ruling as a victory for copyright law, it does not mean the competitive playing field will become level. The U.S. Complaint Against China In 2007, the United States complained to the...
In this post, I continue to examine how small businesses and startups can avoid common misconceptions about intellectual property. This time, I turn to patent issues that small and emerging companies must consider to maximize the value they create and capture from their intellectual property. As noted in the previous post, these misconceptions come from...