The New Normal of Integrating Intellectual Property and Product Development

The 2010 PDMA Global Conference on Product Innovation Management is in Orlando, Florida this year, with attendees from around the world descending upon the enormous and beautiful facilities of the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. The theme emerging from this conference is that there is a "new normal" surrounding new product development as a result of the global economic cycle and the increasingly collaborative nature of designing, developing and launching new products.

One "new normal" is practitioners increasing interest in how intellectual property integrates with the new product development process and how intellectual property laws around the world can impact successful commercialization. At this year's conference, there is a full day lab being offered on such issues. As I write this post, I am attending that lab intrigued by the exchange of discussion. There is a difference in perspectives from attendees depending upon their home geography. The US participants seem to have an intellectual property value system with a winner - looser grounding. Patents, for example are a prize to be won and a tool to be used against a competitor or to extract rents (the non - practicing entity issue). Participants from Asia look at IP quite differently. In many countries in Asia, patents are primarily a measurement of R&D productivity and often are not used as competitive leverage unless in a cross licensing scenario (but this is starting to change). The European perspective Is a bit in-between. Across all geographies, however, a "new normal" is being shared - that IP must be used more strategically, with more thought and planning throughout the entire product development process and across the product life cycle.