Strategic Intellectual Asset Management for Emerging Enterprises

Title

Author (Economy)

Description

Preface

Synthesis

The synthesis, developed by the project's organizers, lays out the underlying framework that has emerged from and through the individual case studies.

The Challenge of Integration into Global Supply Chains: Magna International, Inc

Charles Gastle
and Heather Gastle

(Canada)

Magna International Inc. was the leading automobile parts manufacturer in North America with sales exceeding $20 billion. It had worldwide operations, and a substantial and growing presence in Southeast Asia. Innovation and the management of its intellectual assets were at the heart of Magna‘s corporate strategy; it had developed a culture intended to achieve it. Nevertheless, Magna did not define itself as a technology corporation because it did not patent each and every product, attribute, or manufacturing process that its employees developed. It sought patents only for those technologies related to its core business operations.

Nanhainan’s Intellectual Assets Management Capacity Building: Nanhainan Co Ltd

Yuan Juan
and
Xiong Ying

(China)

Nanhainan was mainly engaged in the manufacture of switch, transmission, wireless and data communication products, and in providing worldwide telecom network equipment, services and solutions ranging from research and design to production and sale. Founded in 1988, Nanhainan had grown from a small company with a registered capital of only RMB 20,000 into a large company with a total turnover of over RMB 60 billion. As of January 2010, Nanhainan had over 100 branches worldwide. It marketed its products and solutions in over 100 economies and its operation was supported by a worldwide marketing and service network.

How the Introduction of Intellectual Capital Management Inspired a Business Model: HKHPC

C. K. So

(Hong Kong, China)

The Hong Kong Institute of High Performance Computing (HKHPC) is a knowledge-based enterprise founded in 2002 by Dr LAM Wai-kin. It was established to create a platform for enthusiastic researchers primarily in Hong Kong, to join various projects in the area of high performance computing (HPC), cluster computing and grid computing.

An Experience of Holding IPR in a Market with Fierce Competition: P T Apora Indusm

Soegeng Priyono (Indonesia)

From a garage class machining shop in the downtown area, Apora had developed into a modern manufacturing company situated in a large industrial complex. The company was wondering why it could not win its fight for more business against its competitors, more especially in the domestic market, in spite of its track record in delivering space-frame projects to more than 24 economies across the world and its IP patents rights on his Bottle Connector System. By acquiring the patent rights, Apora expected to attract more customers, command a price premium, drive sales volume, enable clear product differentiation and positioning, and hopefully reduce marketing cost. As it turned out, these did not happen as expected; Apora still faced a lot of challenges just to win more business against competitors who did not even hold any patent rights.

How to Find IP Price and Manage IP Transaction in SME: Tanikei Manufacturing Ltd

Shinji Hino (Japan)

In April 1996, Mr Taniuchi, the president of Tanikei Manufacturing Ltd met with two businessmen from Chicago in the company’s offices in Japan. The visitors were representatives of the steel can manufacturing division and risk management division in Heinz USA. They had come to Japan to ask Mr Taniuchi to sell them the US patents of the “safest pull-top technology in the world” that Mr. Taniuchi invented. Likewise, they wanted to be given exclusive license for the product outside Japan and the US for 10 years; Mr Taniuchi could make and sell the products outside the US, but no other license should be issued to other companies. During the one-hour meeting, one of the visitors asked, “What is the price of the rights to the US patent and the exclusive license for your product in the rest of the world except in Japan and the US?” Mr Taniuchi was excited but calmly considered what his price offer should be. In their subsequent discussion of the next step in the IP (Intellectual Property) transaction, Mr Taniuchi felt that his visitors appreciated the value of Tanikei’s technology. As Taniuchi saw them off at the Narita Airport, he wondered how he could determine the appropriate price for his IPs.

To Close or Not to Close, That is the Question: Malaysia Plastic Sdn Bhd

Muhammad Imran Chen bin Abdullah (Malaysia)

It was drizzling in the morning of 21 July 2006. From his office window, Mr Tony Yew, the Managing Director of Malaysia Plastic Sdn. Bhd. (MPlastic) could see a lorry loaded with PP circular bags leaving the warehouse. He had just gone through the company’s financial analyses from 2003 to the first half of 2006 presented by his Chief Accountant. The financial analyses at the company as well as at the product type levels showed that in the second quarter of 2006, the company with a revenue of RM10.9 million suffered an operating loss of RM1.25 million. In the previous quarter, it had RM9.7 million revenues and RM0.59 million operating loss. The company had been experiencing deteriorating margin since 2004 which was attributed to intense market competition in the PP circular bags sector. Before the company’s financial situation became worse, Mr Yew needed to decide soon whether to close the production of PP circular bags.

Nothing to Hide: Managing Intellectual Assets Throughout the Supply Chain: Icebreaker Ltd

Antonio Díaz Andrade (New Zealand)

Like most of the inventions that marked the progress of humankind, the origins of Icebreaker could be traced back to the convergence of two well-matched elements: kiwi ingenuity and an unanticipated encounter that occurred in Pohuenui, one of the islands in the Marlborough Sounds, in the northeast of the New Zealand South Island.

Making Diagnostics Accessible to the World (A): Pictor Limited

Lee Mathias (New Zealand)

In the mid 2000s and in good Kiwi style, Dr Sarita Kumble laid linoleum on her suburban Auckland garage floor and set up a research laboratory to test her ideas on miniaturizing and multiplexing enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technology. After a year or so, her research results indicated that she had a product that she believed – based on her previous biotech start-up experience – could be commercially viable. In 2005, Drs Sarita and Anand Kumble formally established Pictor Limited. The name “Pictor” described the “pictorial” of the test result gained from a simple scan of the test membrane.

Making Diagnostics Accessible to the World (B): Financing the Company: Pictor Limited

Lee Mathias (New Zealand)

As CEO of Pictor Limited, Dr Sarita Kumble was faced with decisions recognizing the wide ranging uses of the technology and the various business models through which commercialization could take place. With the first contracts due to be signed by the end of 2009, it was apparent that, notwithstanding what Dr Sarita Kumble’s decisions would be on what strategy to pursue, a large capital infusion would be required to commercialize the product as soon as possible. The implications of the commercialization strategy and the terms of the capital raised for the business were key to the decision-making process of the company.

The Financial Service Platform of UXB2B: Universal eXChange, Inc

Shang-Jyh Liu (Chinese Taipei)

One morning in early January of 2010, Chrissy, the CEO of UXB2B, came to a meditation for the future of her company. Having entered the 10th year since its inception, UXB2B was undergoing a change of growth pattern. Chrissy recalled those difficult and hard-working days in the first five years, while the company was encountering the bursts of internet bubbles so that made drastic changes, and the corporate was repositioned to the ongoing service model. Ever since, the company had been developing steadily, in which the business model and quality service were quite contributing to its success.