common language

I went to the IAM250 UK dinner organised by Simon Edwards of bStrategic on Wednesday 5th August. Thanks to Simon for organising it.

I knew some of the people there already. Though even with those I didn’t know, there was a sense of meeting old friends, as we seemed all to share the same passion for IP, and the same frustration as to how to get business leaders to get it.

IP on the dinner table

I’d come across Jon Calvert of ClearViewIP at the Go4Venture event we ran in June and we had breakfast afterwards to share ideas. I like Jon and the technical-led IP approach of the ClearViewIP team, but I also like the fact that we share the aim of building a big business. we shook hands on a pact to promote each other, recognising that this boutique market of IP service providers doesn’t help.

I’ve known Ben Goodger of Rouse since we first met in 2004 when I did some marketing for Rouse. Ben is a lovely guy and a great IP thinker. I’ve also met John Pryor of CPA Global, Jackie McGuire of Coller IP Management and Simon Edwards previously through networking though not worked with any of them.

New relationships for me were with Matt Dixon of HGF and Mark Thompson of UMIP. Both interesting and stimulating guys to talk to. Matt makes me smile, and bucks the image associated with patent attorneys.

I didn’t go there with any particular agenda other than social, but putting this group and a few glasses of wine together, the conversation turned to the state of the European market, and how to make IP real to business leaders. This is a consistent theme for us as ipVA and on the blog so it was good to hear how others are approaching this challenge. Nobody seems to have cracked it, or at least wasn’t admitting to it, so I think we are all in the same boat. Hard work and shoe leather.

My own views are pretty well known on this theme, and I’m still of the view that one of the single biggest challenges is the inability for the IP world to speak a common language. I’m becoming boring on the point, but the more I hear the IP world speak, the more I think that any outsider would ask himself if we were all talking about the same thing. “IP”, “IPR”, “I-capital”, “intellectual capital”, “IAM”, “IP assets”, “intangibles” – though by word association almost everyone is focused close to exclusively on patents when they use these terms.

If we could at least crack that first issue, I think we might begin to work towards the next series of challenges, including objective measurement.

Holiday is coming up for me next week and can’t come soon enough. Full time pioneering alongside intense projects, building a business and being a father and husband are all energising but tiring. I’ll take a couple of weeks off before my grumpy chip kicks in. I could feel it clicking a few times last week so know it is time to recharge.

Image by JS Hatcher and based on Radio Festival Gala Dinner by Dan Taylor and CC-BY.

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