Protecting Ideas

Today, the assets of many businesses are largely intangible, such as brands, data, software and trade secrets. More and more we live in an economy based on intangibles and much of business involves creating, exploiting and managing those intangible assets. Intellectual property rights (patents, trade secrets, copyright, trademarks design rights and so on) and data rights are a set of legal rights and assets that establish ownership of and protect tangible and intangible assets from copying and other acts for example copying of software or counterfeiting of designer handbags. Equally, intellectual property in the hands of third parties may pose a risk to a business developing a new product or brand. Most businesses start with an idea. It is critical to understand when and under what circumstances ideas, creative works and technology can be protected from third party use by intellectual property, and what limits apply to that protection. It is equally critical to recognize what must be done to secure ownership. In this course you will learn about IP rights-what they are, what they do, their limitations and how they are useful from a strategic perspective-well beyond the typical idea of a patent being nothing more than an invitation to a messy and expensive lawsuit. We will also discuss the all-too-common mistakes that can frustrate these objectives. To put these issues into a business setting, we will be joined by experienced business executives and investors in markets ranging from biosciences to software to sound engineering. This course is designed for business students, not law students. It is the objective of this course to help business students to think critically about when and how to invest in intellectual property protection, to recognize its limits, and to avoid the common mistakes that can frustrate such investments and undermine the value of the company. Although we will have to introduce you to legal concepts, the focus of the course is on putting these concepts into a business setting and explaining how IP may be used strategically-enabling you to be part of the conversation with legal and intellectual property experts and to consider how IP can support management of the assets and strategy of a business or other enterprise. No prior knowledge or experience with intellectual property is needed. The format of this course is under review for best adaption to the possibility of distance learning but will include reading before each class, live or recorded presentations by the guest speakers, and Q&A and discussion. Guest speakers will share their experiences in the areas of IP investment, management, deployment, strategy and risk.