In This Issue Oh Canada! LES Annual Meeting Takes A Global View President's Message: Power Networking Hits The Mark Licensing Foundation Graduate Student Business Plan Competition Healthcare Sector: CEMC Activities Atlanta Recap: A Traveler’s Guide To LES Local Chapters LES E-vent Resource Center—Have You Tried It? Sponsorship Program Enhances Meetings And Education Book Review Slate Of Officers And Trustees For 2007 Introducing The LES Certified Licensing Professional |
Atlanta Recap
Over 250 Licensing Executives gathered in Atlanta for the latest update in current IP topics. President Allen Baum opened the meeting with a warning that recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding patent laws "may end up watering down the patent system to the point where it no longer serves the function intended to appropriately award innovation." He added, "Right now we have Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Patent Office all making changes to patent law in response to intense pressure from those who believe that patents have become too strong. The problem is that there is no real coordination of efforts. With all of this change occurring simultaneously, we run the risk that the pendulum will swing too far and that instead of ‘tweaking' the system, we will destroy the incentive for innovation."
For example, he noted that patent laws do not distinguish between scientific categories of inventions. "The same obviousness test is used for drugs and software," Baum explained. "Will we inadvertently destroy the incentive to develop new medications in an effort to ensure inexpensive access to Internet phone calls?" In its ruling, the Supreme Court addressed the leap from what is known to what is patentable—what would have been obvious from the prior work of others. In recognizing the challenge, the Court stated, "In many fields there may be little discussion of obvious techniques or combinations, and market demand, rather than scientific literature, may often drive design trends." On another note, audiences were entertained with the insights of plenary speaker Matthew Emmens, CEO at Shire Pharmaceuticals. Matt spoke about growth for specialty pharma by telling stories of mergers and acquisitions while giving a history of each drug and how it was acquired. He asked, "How do you grow? You get new products, manage the stuff you have better, and move into new markets." Under Matt's guidance, Shire is expanding all over the world, including in Eastern Europe and Argentina. He added, "We are doing more licensing, including options to buy companies where it makes sense."
Thursday's luncheon featured NASCAR on the menu. G. Spencer Leuders, Competition and Patent Counsel, NASCAR, spoke on "Maximizing Consumer Brand Value." NASCAR has 220 licensees for thousands of products—die cast products, clothing, food, paper towels, and more. The largest licensee is Motorsports Authentics, which produces all the die cast products. The largest retailer is Walmart, which handles 25 percent of the licensed goods. "We started with one attorney doing licensing and now we have three," said Spencer. He explained that cross licensing with driver marques in conjunction with NASCAR marques is important. "We encourage this, so for these we drop our licensing fees by 80 percent," stated Spencer. Another area of licensing is in publishing, where NASCAR is mentioned in cookbooks, history books and romance novels. He described various explicit rules that apply to Harlequin novels. "Protection and enforcement of the licensing rules include a hologram program that all licensees must use. They have trackside enforcement," Spencer explained. "We bring patent attorneys along with Federal Marshals to hunt down violators." By covering the track and a 10-mile radius, Marshals are quite successful using a seizure order and implementing their cease and desist program. Huge fines have been issued for people with vans full of counterfeited t-shirts. Spencer also spoke of the NASCAR R&D Center, where they are "developing the car of tomorrow" to be rolled out next year. He added, "It will have a safer barrier that lines the track, safer neck restraint, a driver compartment that's slightly enlarged with the driver placed more toward the center of the car, smaller fuel cell, and more safety foam. We have 20 patents pending on this new car and will license this technology out." These initiatives keep the brand front and center with $2 billion in licensed sales to 75 million fans.
Workshops, Add-Ons & Networking A new workshop was added on Friday. "Negotiating Licenses After MedImmune and Sandisk, How to Negotiate Without Being Forced to Litigate," was presented by D. Brian Kacedon. This workshop discussed the ramifications of those decisions for both licensees and licensors. Look at the new E-vents area of the LES Web site for Brian's full comments. The Spring Meeting provided plenty of opportunities for networking and meeting
new colleagues, starting with the wine tasting Welcome Reception on Wednesday
evening and finishing with a reception in the Japanese Gardens, followed
by a sumptuous LES dinner. Top-notch plenary sessions, informative workshops,
targeted Add-On Sessions, camaraderie and networking—
it all came together in Atlanta! |
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| Copyright© 2007 Licensing
Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. |
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