Strategies for Surviving the Coming Internet Patent Wars.

• Author: Shade, Wendy P.

TITLE: Strategies for Surviving the Coming Internet Patent Wars PRODUCER: Stanford University Media Solutions YEAR: 2001 LENGTH: 50 minutes PRICE: $95.00 (VHS format) SOURCE: Kantola Productions 800.989.8273, 415.381.9363, or www.kantola.com None of us is a stranger to the concept of patenting a good idea. Today, though, the number of applications for patents are increasing dramatically. Are there simply more good ideas being created, or is there an increased fear of competition? It is actually a combination of both as reflected by a growing number of examples in the media of the need to protect intellectual property and developers' rights to new advances seen every day.

In the video Strategies for Surviving the Coming Internet Patent Wars, Kevin Rivette, co-founder of Aurigin Systems Inc. and a former patent attorney, looks at the changing dynamics in the use of patents. Rivette draws on his own experiences from both legal and corporate perspectives. His manner is very engaging, and he speaks with clear, easy-to-follow examples of his concepts. In 1999 he co-authored the book Rembrandts in the Attic: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Patents, published by Harvard Business School Press. He lets the audience know that many of the examples used in this video are from the research and interviews he conducted for the book.

Rivette challenges the audience to consider the use of patents in unconventional applications. He believes that capturing ideas and leveraging them in the knowledge economy is where every organization's focus should be. Today, ideas have become the product, and unprotected innovation is not an asset. Frankly, it is a liability, and companies can easily create great ideas that benefit their competitors rather than themselves.

Why put so much focus on this need to protect these assets today? What changed? According to Rivette, the very things that used to provide protection are eroding. Global venture capital means that consumers no longer can do what they please with their bank accounts. The ability to recruit and maintain key employees is made more difficult when a competitor can woo them with cooler "toys." The process of getting products to market has shifted from when there were proprietary distribution systems to the world of e-commerce. The demise of proprietary supplier...