Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 221 pages
- Published by: Harvard Business School Press
- Edition: 1st Edition November 1999
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0875848990
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0875848990
-
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
Product Review
If you think patents are just about protecting inventions such as the film projector, you're missing the big picture. Now that
ideas can be protected--for example, Priceline.com's business model--patents can be wielded to intimidate competitors, uncover their strategies, capture market segments, and, for many companies, generate millions in licensing revenues. Whether patented ideas will ultimately help or hinder innovation is still under debate (see
Owning the Future). In
Rembrandts in the Attic, however, authors Kevin Rivette and David Kline get down to business, offering practical advice for competing in today's intellectual property arena.
Their advice ranges from the simple to the sublime. First, they suggest, take stock of the patents you already own. Many companies are sitting on unused patents that could be worth millions. For example, IBM licensed its unused patents in 1990, and saw its royalties jump from $30 million a year to more than $1 billion in 1999, providing over one-ninth of its yearly pretax profits. And if you can't find buyers for your unused patents, then look for companies that are infringing upon them--companies that might owe you a piece of their profits. Rivette and Kline offer "patent mining" techniques to spot such potential infringers that can also reveal where your competitors are headed and help you get there before they do. Overall,
Rembrandts in the Attic is a crafty and practical guide for companies that may have untapped riches in storage.
--Demian McLean
Product Review
"
Rembrandts serves as a simple but useful primer for the CEO who knows that it's time to make patenting a significant part of the company's strategy, but isn't quite sure how or where to begin. The book nicely outlines how executives can start implementing an intellectual property strategy, how to grow it and what pitfalls to avoid. The book regales in recounting numerous ongoing intellectual property battles. As a result,
Rembrandts mercifully turns the generally dull topic of patenting into a fairly exciting read." --
Electronic Business, January 2000"Along with the proliferation of new patents, it seems, comes a proliferation of new patents books. The one with perhaps the best shot at the business best-seller list is
Rembrandts in the Attic. The authors, Kevin G. Rivette and David Kline, emphasize the strategic importance of intellectual property by giving example upon example in which patents (or their lack) have been crucial to the fortunes of such companies as Texas Instruments and Kodak." --
The New York Times, October 25, 1999
Reader ReviewsA patent gives its owner the right to prevent anyone else from using the invention that is protected by the patent. In a society where new technology plays an increasingly important role, the individual or corporation may find that owning a few patents, or better yet a large portfolio of patents, may be the key to success. This is independant of whether the patent holder practices the technology of the patent. The authors discuss patents in the light of the e-commerce revolution. They suggest the use of patents in a strategic manner. They provide illustrations and examples of successful patent strategies. Although much of what they say may be known to those who are in the race to establish business method patent portfolios, even those who think that they know what patents are all about can learn something from this book.
Search for books at
