Intellectual Property Management & Markets Courses
Context/Introduction and Protecting IP
This introduction will address the relatively unique nature of intangible property and the key ways it differs from "brick and mortar" assets. Some historical background on property structures will be covered. The rapid growth of patent, trademark and copyright protection and their importance to the global economy will be explored. Case studies that will be used throughout the program will be introduced.
Integrated into the introduction is a survey course that will compare and contrast the four intellectual property regimes--- patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright---in the context of their application to business. Topics to be explored include the point at which protection arises, the scope of protection available and the basis for enforcement actions. National and international considerations will be covered. The class will work in teams to identify and define protectable IP. Four credits.
Managing the Creative Process
This course will address the strategies, tactics and metrics required to build and manage the human capital within an organization that creates and leverages IP. Topics include: competitive advantage through human capital management (HCM); organizational structure and HCM; characteristics of knowledge-intensive and people-rich organizations; recruitment, training and retention of knowledge employees; global issues in HCM. Three credits.
IP Assessment
This course will provide students with an understanding of why businesses dependent on IP should carry out regular assessments of their own IP assets as well as assessments of IP obtainable from third parties and of IP owned by their competitors. Students will learn a wide variety of techniques for conducting these assessments and for evaluating the strengths and vulnerabilities of IP. They will also learn how to determine what IP the organization might need to meet its business strategies and how to identify and evaluate third party IP that is still in the process of development and/or under review by patent authorities in various jurisdictions. Importantly, the course will focus on the legal, business and technical pros and cons of internal development of IP compared with acquisition from third parties. Three credits.
Elective 1
Students may choose any three credit course offered by IIT which fits into his/her own career goals and/or personal development. Students without any financial background are encouraged to consider an introductory finance course. Three credits.
Spring Semester
Acquiring IP
An in-depth examination of the ways IP may be acquired other than through creation. Topics include: asset purchase; business transactions, such as joint ventures, joint development, strategic alliances, licenses, mergers and acquisitions; and patent pooling. Emerging issues such as open sourcing and open innovation will be explored. Antitrust implications of these various business transactions will be covered, from a business perspective. Three credits
IP and Business Strategy
This course will examine the key role that IP plays in driving competitive advantage. The resource-based view, a state-of-the-art perspective on strategic management, will be employed to teach students how patent-based IP assets can be deployed with other critical IP assets within an organization (e.g., trademarks and copyrights) to create exceptional customer value and sustainable competitive advantage for the organization. While the course primarily focuses on business strategy, corporate and functional strategy and operational planning will also be covered. The course will also address a number of issues and concepts spanning portfolio models, blue ocean strategies, IP management, IP risk assessment and IP enforcement. Three credits.
Global IP Management
This is a broad course covering the critical areas of portfolio management in a variety of business settings: corporate, sole proprietorships, government and educational institutions. This course will address strategies for global IP coverage, including decisions on when, where and how to seek IP protection, with an eye toward optimal protection on a cost-effective basis. This course will also teach principles of IP portfolio management that will inform decisions to license, trade, pool, hold and sell IP. Last, students will learn the challenges associated with IP decisions in the face of various forms of business discontinuities, including bankruptcy, mergers, divestitures, nationalization of company assets and so forth. Three credits.
Maximizing IP Value
This is an examination of the methods used to value IP in various settings: IP owned by a business, IP that is the target of acquisition, and IP that has been asserted against a business by a third party IP owner. All of the methods examined will be anchored in a review of applicable regulations and accounting principles. Other topics covered are: securitization and/or monetization of IP, with particular focus on IP holding companies and their benefits, liabilities and challenges; issues of taxation, with particular focus on tax efficient means of optimizing IP value; and deployment of and defense against the adversarial assertion of IP by non-practicing entities (also known as "patent trolls").
Three credits.
Elective 2
Students are encouraged to choose a course that supplements their learning from Semester 1 and/or otherwise fulfils their career goals.
Summer Session
Capstone Class
This course will provide an experiential learning opportunity that brings together and applies the new knowledge, experiences and expertise derived from the doctrinal classes. Working in teams, the class will create an Intellectual Property Strategy and Plan for a business or institution that is currently underutilizing its IP assets or facing IP challenges from third parties or competitors. Each team will prepare a written and oral presentation to a panel of experts representing senior management of the business studied. Two credits.
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