Lecture about IP as a Strategic Business Asset

Hello, today I will be posting about our lecture presentation on April 20^th, 2015 titled: The Role of Intellectual Property as a Strategic Business Asset

I will be listing the 10 aspects that are most important from this lecture, let me know what you guys think! 

1. Consumer Products are assigned intellectual property through copyrights, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks. 
2. A copyright can be defined as an original work of authorship in literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic form.  The protection lasts until the author’s life plus 70 years expires.
3. A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in trade to distinguish a good or company.  Protection of a trademark is limited to “first use” of the entity or registering it with the USPTO, and does not expire as long as it is used commercially.
4. A trade secret is information about a business item that is kept confidential due to its economic value.  Protection of a trade secret comes with taking measures to keep the secret confidential, as ownership can be sustained indefinitely as long as it is not publicly disclosed.
5. A patent is a right to exclude others from making, using, or selling products covered by an invention in a defined territory.  A patent must be novel, non-obvious, reduced to practice, and granted validity by the USPTO.  A patent stays valid for 20 years after the filing date.
6. The patent marketplace of course consists of IP creators and IP users; however, the introduction of intermediaries such as non-practicing entities, patent aggregators, market makers, and financial services have flooded the market creating cross licensing complications and patent trolling. 
7. There are four types of Intellectual Property Transactions including licensing IP, selling IP, spinning off an IP, and enforcement or litigation of an IP. 
8. As a strategic business asset, IP can be split up into 3 lifecycles including: Developing IP position, Portfolio commercialization and Monetization, and Portfolio Liquidation. 
9. Failure to properly address IP issues can cause companies or products to lose market share, to endure margin erosion, and to lose market competitiveness. IP strategy determines how successful and profitable the invention will be. 
10. Many entrepreneurs often make the mistake of overprotecting their idea when they would be best served by sharing it with relevant and qualified people who could greatly help with feedback and execution.