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Intellectual property (IP) management: organizational processes and structures, and the role of IP donations

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Abstract

This paper examines intellectual property (IP) management in U.S. companies and addresses three questions: What are typical sources of IP? How do companies manage IP? What role do donations of IP play in IP management? We used in-depth interviews and an on-line survey to gather data. We found that firms develop their IP position from a wide variety of sources such as joint ventures, acquisitions, and consulting contracts, but internal development is still the primary source of IP. Organizationally, three structural archetypes of IP management were identified: a centralized structure, a purely decentralized IP structure and a compromise structure involving a divisional assignment where a multi-business unit or division committee oversees IP. IP donations clearly do not appear to be a major phenomenon at the present time. Our survey results suggest that tax benefits are an important driver and that recent tax law changes have diminished the incentives to donate IP. The uncertainty of tax benefits and the costs associated with IP valuation appear to be the main disincentives.

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Notes

  1. A reason might be that a change in company strategic direction has identified certain IP to be outside the new areas of interest or that an acquisition has included IP that is not part of their core business.

  2. A technology brokerage function could also be a “for-profit” endeavor such as is being pursued by “yet2.com” and NineSigma, Inc. among others.

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Acknowledgement

This project was supported by a Presidential Research Initiative Grant (PRI #42786) from Case Western Reserve University which is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 11119 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106-7235, USA

    Bo Carlsson & Monica Dumitriu

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, 213 Hudson Hall, Science Drive, Box 91300, Durham, NC, 27708-0300, USA

    Jeffrey T. Glass

  3. School of Law, Case Western Reserve University, 11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, 44106-7148, USA

    Craig Allen Nard

  4. Barrett Consulting, Inc., 339 Bentleyville Road, Moreland Hills, OH, 44022, USA

    Richard Barrett

Authors
  1. Bo Carlsson
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  2. Monica Dumitriu
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  3. Jeffrey T. Glass
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  4. Craig Allen Nard
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  5. Richard Barrett
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Correspondence to Bo Carlsson.

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Carlsson, B., Dumitriu, M., Glass, J.T. et al. Intellectual property (IP) management: organizational processes and structures, and the role of IP donations. J Technol Transfer 33, 549–559 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-008-9082-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-008-9082-2

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