About the Book
This supplement contains the following new chapters: Chapter 1B, U.S. Congress Flirts with Disaster, discusses elements of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 and the potential for great harm to the U.S. economy. With the U.S. economy highly dependent on intellectual property, changing the patent rules is dangerous. This chapter outlines some of the pitfalls with which Congress is flirting.
Chapter 33A, The Magnitude and Meaning of Royalty Misreporting, by Debora R. Stewart, CPA and Judy A. Byrd, CPA of Invotex Group's Intellectual Property Management & Finance practice highlights a critical element of IP management too often neglected. After development of intellectual property and significant time and money in licensing negotiations, the actual collection of royalties that are due is not thoroughly managed. In their work, Ms. Stewart and Byrd have found disturbing errors in reporting and paying royalties. Sometimes the errors are caused by outright fraud by a licensor. More often though, errors occur from miscalculations, incorrect interpretation of license agreements, omission of products from the royalty base covered in the license agreement, and several other honest, but costly mistakes. In this chapter the most common errors are identified along with lessons that can be implemented in your next license agreement so all royalties that are due a licensor are actually collected.
Chapter 33B, Intellectual Property Audit and Management by Ron Carson, discusses the importance of knowing about your intellectual property so it can be integrated in business strategies. The chapter explains the importance of conducting an IP audit and the strengths and weaknesses of the different methodsthat are currently being employed. Software solutions are discussed including the enterprise software product offered by his firm Innovation Asset Group.