Understanding IP Matters
‘Understanding IP Matters,’ is a popular podcast series that enables successful entrepreneurs, inventors, content creators, executives and experts to share their IP story - the good, bad and amazing. The series is brought to you by the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding, an independent non-profit established in 2016. CIPU provides outreach to improve IP awareness, enhance value and promote sharing. www.understandingip.org
Patents, Power, and the Fight Between David and Goliath
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America built its patent office before it had paved roads in its own capital, and that decision still shapes how invention works today.
Bruce Berman is joined by Eric Hintz, an invention historian at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, for a conversation that traces the roots of the U.S. patent system back to the Constitutional Convention and forward through the rise of corporate research labs. Hintz explains why the framers designed a patent system meant to be accessible to anyone, how independent inventors and corporations have alternated...
A Leader in the $370B Character Licensing Boom
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Character licensing is a $370 billion global industry — and most people have never heard of it. Bruce Berman sits down with David Born, CEO of Born Licensing and one of the world's leading experts in character and IP licensing for advertising. From placing Buddy the Elf in a UK supermarket ad to helping Geico license Angry Birds, David breaks down how brands use intellectual property to create instant emotional recognition in marketing campaigns. He explains how licensing deals are structured and valued, how licensors protect their brands from overexposure, and why smaller or emerging ch...
How the University of Kentucky is Building AI-Forward Culture and Driving Economic Impact
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Protecting intellectual property at a university should come before sharing it
Ian McClure, Vice President of Research and Innovation at the University of Kentucky, makes the case that intellectual property isn't a barrier to innovation — it's the scaffolding that makes innovation possible. In a wide-ranging conversation with host Bruce Berman, Ian discusses how UK is leading a $200 million AI transformation strategy, why spinning out startups generates 50% more local economic impact than publishing alone, and how universities must evolve their promotion and tenure systems to truly reward innovation.
Dr...
Scaling IP Benefits: Tencent, the White House, and AI
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Danny Marti has navigated IP from the Obama White House to the boardrooms of some of the world's most powerful companies. As President Obama's intellectual property enforcement coordinator — the so-called "IP czar" — Danny helped shape a whole-of-government approach to IP strategy. Today, as Head of Public Affairs and Global Policy at Tencent, he oversees IP protection for the world's largest trademark filer and one of the top holders of AI patents globally.
This conversation covers Tencent's remarkable transformation of music piracy in China, how the company built Weixin's crowdsourced IP enforcement plat...
Greenhouses for Innovation: Balancing Patent Rights and Public Good with Laura Peter
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Laura Peters provides rare perspective to intellectual property awareness, having served as Deputy Director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under Andre Iancu before becoming Executive Director of Research at UNC Charlotte. She tackles persistent misconceptions about patents in university settings, where publication incentives often overshadow commercialization opportunities.
Peters explains how patents function as temporary greenhouses for innovators—protecting ideas for 20 years before releasing them to public knowledge. Her work focuses on helping researchers understand that intellectual property extends far beyond patents and that securing rights doesn't conflict with ope...
AI and IP Law, A Cautious Embrace
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Wayne Stacy brings a unique perspective from his role as executive director of Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. From his early days as a patent litigator to directing the Silicon Valley USPTO office and earning a Fulbright to work in Nepal, Wayne has witnessed dramatic changes in how technology affects legal practice. This conversation explores how AI is transforming legal education, the evolution of patent litigation costs, and why future lawyers need different skills than previous generations.
Key Takeaways:
AI enables lawyers to focus on higher-value work...Capital Can Transform Invention Rights
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Why do many businesses prefer lawsuits over licensing deals — and what does IP capital mean for innovation?
Phil Hartstein, co-founder of Soryn IP Capital and former CEO of Finjan Holdings, shares insights from orchestrating almost $500 million in licensing deals. He explains why patent licensing has shifted from corporate boardrooms to courtrooms, and discusses the economics of patent enforcement, the role of litigation finance in supporting legitimate innovators, and how AI is transforming IP strategy.
Phil reveals what makes patents valuable, why most portfolios contain only single-digit percentages of...
3-D Chess: AI's Race for Market Share and IP Supremacy
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Allison Gaul, senior counsel at BCG-X, an invention development and commercialization company, discusses the evolving AI landscape, where intellectual awareness meets real-world strategy.
As both a former patent examiner and litigator with a Harvard graduate degree in business analytics, she offers insider perspectives on how companies secure IP rights, why investors now prioritize AI risk policies, and how open source licensing drives market adoption.
The conversation explores copyrighted training data challenges, how small learning models compete with foundational LLMs, and why publicly available doesn't mean free to use. Gaul...
Man of 1000 Faces: The Renaissance Journey of Eric Bear
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When creativity meets intellectual property, innovation has no boundaries.
Eric Bear has licensed intellectual property to all major U.S. studios and Fortune 500 companies while maintaining a successful acting career. With over 100 patents covering software and video technology, Eric's seamless expansion invention was popularized by The Matrix and licensed to Disney, Fox, and other major studios. This conversation explores how he balances roles as inventor, entrepreneur, actor, and university professor while navigating patent litigation and startup IP protection. Discover how unconventional career paths can drive business trademark protection and...
Copyright Piracy Costs America up to $71 Billion: Hollywood Producer Ruth Vitale Speaks Out
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Ruth Vitale, Oscar-winning producer and CEO of Creative Future, reveals the devastating impact of copyright piracy on America's entertainment workforce. Piracy costs the economy up to $71 billion annually and threatens 560,000 jobs across film and television. Ruth explains how small business IP protection matters for the 122,000 companies serving Hollywood, why copyright law basics must evolve for the digital age, and what IP protection strategies could save the industry. From malware risks on pirate sites to AI's threat to actor rights, this conversation exposes hard truths about intellectual property education and the urgent need for...
AI Adoption Moves At The Speed of Trust
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Award-winning educator and IP advocate Daryl Lim joins Bruce Berman to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property education. Broadcasting from Singapore, Daryl shares his global perspective on how AI is reshaping IP frameworks, from the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement to the emergence of new data rights. This conversation examines IP leadership challenges, the role of blockchain in patent processes, and why marginalized communities need better access to intellectual property protection. Daryl discusses China's rapid IP development, the importance of equity by design in technology governance, and practical startup IP strategies for...
Patents Don't Block Innovation, Ignorance Does
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Join host Bruce Berman for an illuminating conversation with Henry Hadad, Head of Intellectual Property Rights at Bristol-Myers Squibb. This episode explores how intellectual property education and strong patent protection drive medical breakthroughs while addressing common misconceptions about IP rights.
Hadad shares his unique journey from a creative family background—his uncle wrote disco classics like "It's Raining Men"—to becoming a leading voice in pharmaceutical patent strategy. Learn how the patent process explained through real-world examples demonstrates why IP protection strategies are essential for developing life-saving treatments. Discover insights on start...
Celebrated MIT engineer and entrepreneur develops medical devices to treat cancer and other diseases
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Michael Cima is a researcher, inventor and entrepreneur who has spent 40-years creating advanced medical devices that focus on diagnostics and treatments for cancer, metabolic diseases and trauma. He is also devoted educator mentoring the next generation of creators about the broad benefits of IP rights.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
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This Fashionista Doesn't Wear Fashion - She Covers It
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Julie Zerbo is an editor, lawyer and business analyst who covers the business of fashion, including its evolving use of licensing and IP rights.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
When IP rights lose their property-like function innovation suffers
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Author Jonathan Barnett argues that tilting the IP playing field to the benefit of the biggest companies is a much greater threat to innovation, business and democracy than we are willing to admit.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
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AI needs the right balance of innovation and regulation to thrive
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Brandie Nonnecke heads the CITRIS Policy Lab, a tech research center at UC Berkeley that focuses on IT and deep tech and explores topical issues, including personal data privacy, digital access equity, AI bias, and the influence of social media on democracy.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
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"Emmy Award-winning immunologist is re-making the idea of science and technology "
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Dr. Bertley is a nine-time Emmy Award winning educator who believes that inventions and creative expression are for everyone, from school age children to leading research institutions. Science, technology, engineering, arts, math (STEAM) are his passion. As CEO of the leading U.S. science museum, Center for Science & Indusry (COSI), he is living it.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the s...
"Too much AI regulation threatens competition and jobs," says former USPTO Director
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Arguably the most successful USPTO Director, Andrei Iancu, worries that fear of an AI apocalyps are over blown and that too much regulation could be a bigger threat to the U.S.'s ability to compete than too little
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or...
"Unreliable U.S. tech patents impede breakthrough innovation"
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A leading patent market expert explains how the ennactment of bi-partisan IP legislation before Congress can help inventions to become more meaningful.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Ex-war photographer helps remove the mystery from images and content
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Adobe, NYT and Twitter-lead initiative uses open source software to track image origination and changes to spot fakes and prevent abuse.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Policy won't save U.S. innovation; respect for property rights can
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IP's leading historian and policy expert says the U.S. is undermining the model innovation rights system that it layed the foundation for in the U.S. Constitution.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Singer-songwriter says AI could turn content providers into an endangered species
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Boundary-breaking indie songwriter and cultural critic, Elizabeth Nelson, says streaming and AI threaten working musicians and hurt listeners, too.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Beyond ‘Shark Tank’ – How This Entrepreneur Overcame a Sea of Obstacles
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Bullies couldn't stop Akeem, nor clinical depression. He gets his strength from connecting with people. Snoop Dogg called him a marketing genius.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
NYC's #1 inventor shares his secret for working smarter
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James started out as a math whiz, who loved games and calculating risk. That led him to problem-solving and 780 U.S. patents.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
How AI + IP are making an impact on early cancer detection
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"Once the 'human' education of an AI-driven device is completed, the machine will learn on its own," says Dr. Alan C. Nelson, cancer diagnostics developer with 142 patents and 30 years AI experience. "It becomes way smarter and quicker-thinking than the teacher."
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or...
Create, invent, track: Managing digital rights for IP and AI value
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Multi-Grammy Award winner, inventor and CEO of Intertrust Technologies use innovative technology to authenticate and track content and IP. More creative expression means faster speed, greater value and digital management challenges. Keeping up will never be the same.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit u...
IP and AI: Lessons for students, businesses and governments
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Two leading educators address gaps in IP understanding and the need for more and better IP awareness among all students.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
AI Beyond ChatGPT: How a healthcare investor and INDYCAR engineer are taming big data
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Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
The mysteries of design patents - Preventing abuse before it happens
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Design patents are less patents than trademarks with copyright qualities. Their importance has grown not only because of the distinctive look and feel of new products, but because of their functionality. IP licensing and legal experts, Brian Hinmand and Elizabeth Ferrill, tell UIPM listeners why DPs work best in a portfolio of IP rights.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the sp...
Special Guest: Tech pioneer Marshall Phelps, who established IP businesses at Microsoft and IBM
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Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Piracy or Policy? Maintaining U.S. Technology Leadership in the Digital Age
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U.S. tech leadership is slipping away. Uncertain and easily infringed IP rights are a major reason. How can the nation get back its creation mojo? Two experts, one a successful invento and the other a ex-ITC Commissioner tell us.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice o...
Infuencer - Educator is Attracting Diverse Audiences to IP Awareness and Ethics
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Digitalization and, now, A.I. have changed our see of the world. Prof Casey offers a fresh perspective on copyright, ethics and IP awareness delivered in a manner resonates with a wide range of audiences and ages.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.o...
Making Innovation Pay — Ex- Microsoft and IBM IP Heads Talk About Return on Investment
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Once an income generator for large companies and independent inventors alike, patent licensing has fallen victim to over-correction. Its impact is only beginning to be felt.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
Tech Partnerships - From Government to University to Consumer
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After more than 40 years of successful public-privtate partnerships, universities and businesses are still fighting to maintain the opportunities provided by the Bayh-Dole Act.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
AI Bots, Creators and Copyright – Learning to Live Together
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Tool or weapon? Generative AI has recently opened a new world of opportunity and danger. For creators, consumers and society using AI queries fairly is no simple matter.
Support the show
Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your platform of choice or visit understandingip.org.
To reach us: explore@understandingip.org
IP in the Classroom: What Entrepreneurs and Students Need to Learn Today
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Teaching intellectual property rights is no easy feat. Teaching about them meaningfully to students, entrepreneurs, business majors and others is a challenge. Join ‘Understanding IP Matters’ for a special episode, featuring two IP education champions, one an inventor, with decades of experience teaching IP to a range of students and creators and a load of suggestions.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and exper...
IP Investing - What is it? Who does it? Why it matters?
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Investing today means taking a stake in company-defining rights, like patents, copyright and trademarks. Technology and product investors are IP investors - even if many do not realize it. Who are they? How do they measure success? What do they mean to innovation?
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
Subscribe on your...
Inventor and author Arlyne Simon wants to change the world - and how children view it
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Inventor, author and entrepreneur Arlyne Simon says creative problem solving should be the foundation for every child's education. The earlier the better. The Intel Corporation biomedical engineer believes failure is a part of every invention's success, and that we need to learn how to fail to succeed.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.
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Rising to the China Challenge - Why the U.S. must capture IP value, not just create it
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U.S. innovation the foundation of its history and success. To compete successfully in today's global economy two experts – one, the most cited business scholar - suggest that the nation will need to do a better job on innovation policy and value capture. The fate of the U.S. hangs in the balance.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to...
Embracing Open Innovation: The Business of Licensing With or Without Patents
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Stephen Key is a unique inventor and entrepreneur. He is also an licensing educator with thousands of students in more than 65 countries. His approach targets companies with an “open innovation” platform. These businesses, Key says, are hungry for new ideas and how to build and market them, whether they are patented or not. His product endorsers have included celebrities from Michael Jordan to Taylor Swift.
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Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partn...
