Editor's page.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey

Not that many years ago, patents were a fiercely guarded element of corporate strategy; they still are in industries like pharmaceuticals. But, as writer Gregory Millman details in a compelling article, new winds are sweeping through the intellectual property (IP) area. The time-honored patent process is under assault on a number of fronts, and there is a broad groundswell to open up IP to collaboration and new forms of sharing.

In a second piece in the cover package, Executive Editor Ellen M. Heffes looks at piracy and how it has impacted two companies in particular--Zippo, the lighter maker, and Henkel kGaA, the German conglomerate known for consumer products such as toiletries and cosmetics, adhesives and home care items. Zippo has a concentrated crackdown underway in China, the source of most of the counterfeiting, where it has been conducting regular raids on pirate manufacturers.

CFOs and other finance leaders can help audit committees overcome existing obstacles and become more high-functioning, writes Thomas P. Flanagan, a vice chairman at Deloitte & Touche LLP. As a key link between C-suite executives and the audit committee chair, finance leaders are ideally positioned, he writes, to raise committee effectiveness through initiating and suggesting key improvements.

It's not exactly shocking to hear that the economic woes of recent months have forced the initial public offering (IPO) express to slam on the brakes, at least in the U.S. Writer Paul Sweeney looks at the situation and explores a few of the resulting questions: how long will this last, and will it spill over to overseas markets? Meanwhile, some companies and investors are looking at other ways to go public.

Fair value accounting isn't altogether fair, in many preparers' minds, and its application won't be easy for financial managers and company directors. Lewis Ferguson, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, argues that the challenges can best be handled...