The Intangible Investor - Profiting from Intellectual Property: Companies' Most Elusive Assets (Paperback)

The Intangible Investor takes a hard look at the ways businesses generate return on inventions and ideas, and how they and others profit. Bruce Berman's fifth book also reveals what are behind patent "trolls" and who are the real bad actors gaming the IP system. It goes to the heart of the innovation economy, and provides businesses, investors and general audiences: (1) a basis for understanding how IP can generate hidden value (2) a foundation for what is meant by patent quality, and who, in fact, are the IP systems' bad actors, and (3) a context to discern IP developments of the recent past in the hope of providing a clearer vision of the future. "One of the most remarkable things about this collection is how these essays have weathered the test of time," says Gene Quinn, editor of the popular IP Watchdog and a patent attorney in the foreword to the book. "While the 64 essays in The Intangible Investor stretch back to 2003, they are as relevant today as they were when they were written, which is a testament to Berman's forward thinking and understanding of the issues." Viewed collectively the contributions in The Intangible Investor provide entrepreneurs, investors, IP professionals, and the general public useful intelligence about how the IP industry works, and a historical context for what it means for the future. The book took eleven years to produce and includes columns originally contributed to IAM on a wide range of IP topics from patent transactions to illegal file sharing, legislation, valuations and public IP licensing companies (PIPCOs). The title is a play on unapparent stakeholders who rely on intangible assets like patents that escape the balance sheet. The Intangible Investor is also an allusion to Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor, which after 65 years is still the definitive book on value investing. This book is intended for anyone interested in business, new ideas or investing.