Intellectual Asset Management and Harvesting

• Author: Andrew J. Sherman
• Position: Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA)
• Pages: 03

Andrew J. Sherman is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Dickstein Shapiro LLP, a firm with over 350 attorneys nationwide. Mr. Sherman is a recognized international authority on the legal and strategic issues affecting small and growing companies. Mr. Sherman is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he teaches courses on business growth, capital formation and entrepreneurship. Mr. Sherman has been General Counsel to Young Entrepreneurs' Organization since 1987. Mr. Sherman is also the founder of Grow Fast Grow Right, an education and training company for executives of middle market companies (http://www. growfastgrowright.com). Mr. Sherman is the author of fourteen books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth and capital formation. His most recently published books include The Complete Guide to Running and Growing A Business, published by Random House in November of 1997 and Mergers and Acquisitions: A Strategic and Financial Guide for Buyers and Sellers, published by AMACOM in March of 1998, the second edition was published in November 2005 and Parting Company, published by Kiplinger's in May of 1999, Raising Capital, published by Kiplinger's in Spring of 2000 and Raising Capital (2nd Edition), published by AMACOM in February 2005, and Fast Track Business Growth, published by Kiplinger's in January of 2002. Mr. Sherman can be reached at (202) 420-5000 or by e-mail at ShermanA@dicksteinshapiro.com.

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CEO's and business leaders of many small and growing companies are committing the strategic sin of failing to properly protect, mine, and harvest intellectual property because they often do not understand intellectual property generally and fail to assess their intellectual properties appropriately. Although intellectual capital embraces almost every aspect of a business's core assets and potential revenue stream, its significance has not been sufficiently understood. For example, from 1997 to 2001, billions of dollars were invested in venture capital and private equity markets, which were in turn used by entrepreneurs to create intellectual property and other intangible assets. Five years...