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Dr. Kari Sipilä in Chamber of Commerce in Minneapolis on October 12, 2011
Finnish Innovation and Fostering Innovation to MarketplaceLataa
Dr. Kari Sipilä presentation in the LES ( USA, Canada) conference in Orlando, Fla, USA 22.10.2008, (Summary)

Collaboration between Universities and Companies in the Nordic Countries

Download presentation from hereLataa
Dr. Kari Sipila, Immediate Past President of LES Scandinavia, in Ålesund, Norway September 3, 2007 in the Scandinavian Conference of Licensing Executives Society:

IP management and Strategies for small Companies

The management of the company plays a central role in the development and utilization of intellectual resources. The intellectual property ( IP ) in the company must be managed well to get the best use of it for the competitiveness of the company. Good knowledge and advanced practises in IP will give success in business and correspondingly pitfalls or major problems can be avoided.

The size of the company influences to the organization of the company and also to the role and tasks of IP staff in the company. In small companies at least somebody must have the main responsibility of IP matters, in bigger companies there are IP specialists and in big companies there is an IP or innovation director and department. Very often the SME companies do not have all resources of their own and thus it is a good practice to use the best available outside specialists. However, the company must have its strategies, policies and rules, how to act. For instance, when somebody in the company invents something, the inventor informs the company in writing and then the company or its outside specialist ( innovation center, patent attorney, consultant etc. ) evaluates the invention confidentially. After that, if the idea is accepted in the company, the patenting and invention’s technical and commercial development work may start.

Knowledge, research, technology, innovations and entrepreneurship are the key words in different strategies and policies all over the world. The work for a company’s IP ( or innovation ) strategy and IP policy must be done like other strategies in the company. The IP strategy must be in synergy with other business strategies and R&D strategies and activities. The main goal is that it strengthens the profitability of company’s business. It is essential to concentrate to the best skills and knowledge of the company. The IP strategy must have the full support of the management ( and owners ) of the company. In many small companies the managing director is also in charge of the innovation and intellectual property work.

In the IP strategy and policy work main goals and models are created and decided for the practical work in the company. Also in small companies all the main items of the strategy and policy must be included, but the strategies and policies can be on a quite practical level.

The IP management means the practical work following the IP or innovation strategy. The work is more than just protecting the inventions, trademarks, designs, or copyright and negotiations with the inventors, consultants and authorities. It also involves a company’s ability to commercialize such inventions, market its brands, license its know-how, conclude joint ventures and other contractual agreements involving IP, and effectively monitor and defend its intellectual property rights. Additionally, the management must encourage the personnel to further education and training.

A company can view its intellectual property, know-how and quality through outside evaluations and comparisons or through the eyes of a customer or an outside expert. Then its management, key expertise, the research and development, IP, the whole value-added chain and results are evaluated. Thus the small companies can continuously be successful and competitive both domestically and internationally.

Dr. Kari Sipila networks with NestorPartners

Dr. Kari Sipila, Future Innovations, has been invited by the Board of NestorPartners on December 12, 2006 to join the network of NestorPartners, a Finnish management consulting network with broad international and domestic experiences.

The partners of Nestor-Partners Oy have broad and diverse experience both in Finland and abroad, and they are ready to give their accumulated experience and know-how of many decades for the use of today’s business management.The partners of Nestor-Partners Oy represent the following industries:

  • Banks, finance and insurance
  • Trade
  • Metal and engineering
  • Forest industry
  • Energy
  • Food industry and consumer goods
  • Construction
  • Telecommunication and electronics
  • Chemicals
  • Media and publishing
  • Consulting
  • Hotels and restaurants

And the following functions:

  • Board membership
  • General management
  • Finance
  • International operations and export
  • Sales and marketing
  • Logistics
  • Reorganization and restructuring
  • Strategic- and corporate planning
  • Corporate acquisitions

Further information www.nestorpartners.fi, www.futureinnovations.fi

Dr. Kari Sipila, President of LES Scandinavia, in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 4, 2006 in the Scandinavian Conference of Licensing Executives Society:

Intellectual Property Needs Active Management

In many companies and other organizations there are essential questions concerning Intellectual Property Management ( IPM ). Typical characteristics and questions are, for example in a SME company, as follows:

  • what are the contents of IP, its management and related tasks?
  • how are our R&D and invention activities organized, financed, managed?
  • who should take care of IPM – we or patent attorney or other consultant, who, where to find, costs, reliability etc?
  • how do we get the most use of IP?
  • follow up of competitors and their IP
  • should we sell IP, or buy or license in or out, how to find partners or other interested?
  • whom and how and where should we educate for IPM?
  • how is IPM linked to strategies, what kind of business planning, visions etc should be?
  • decision making in our company in the field of innovations.

All types and sizes of companies and organizations need IP management ( IPM ), but with different approaches. The education should match with their needs, activities and resources. Some key items in the IP management include following principles:

  • The management of the company has a central role in the policy work, also in the IP policy
  • The goal is to get the best use of IPR to improve the competitiveness of the company
  • The IP organization ( IP management ) has the responsibility of the fulfilment of the IP policy in the company and it also makes proposals to the management in the IP and innovation matters.
  • The size and form of the IPR organization may vary and the IP tasks may differ from company to another
  • IP management also activates and coordinates the innovation work inside and outside the company, evaluates the need of outside resources and follows the plans and the budget
  • IP management has to follow the latest developments in the IP field and has to defend actively the IP ownership of the company
  • IP management is in charge of education in the IP matters in the company
  • IP management is also a business unit in IP matters, in cooperation with other business units of the company
Dr Kari Sipila, President of LES Scandinavia, in Glasgow, United Kingdom on June 23, 2006 in the European Conference of Licensing Executives Society:

Some goals for Innovation Center Activities

Major universities have Innovation Centers, but the goals and structures are different. Additionally new innovation centers are under consideration in many universities and countries all over the world. Some main goals for these activities include following:

  • General goals to implement the national science, innovation and technology policies
  • Introduce the fields of available advisory and support possibilities
  • Use written agreements in the research and innovation work
  • Introduce ways for protecting Intellectual Property
  • Advice in different sectors of product development
  • Evaluating methods and tools for the market potential of inventions
  • Show ways for identifying and assessing business opportunities
  • Guide on starting a new technology venture, academic entrepreneurship or licensing and other means of commercializing
  • Information and negotiations for raising Venture Capital
  • Networking with other inventors, researchers and entrepreneurs
  • Information and communication in the field of innovations
Dr Kari Sipila, President of LES Scandinavia, in Seoul, South Korea on April 10, 2006 in the World Conference of Licensing Executives Society International:

Success Factors have important Role in Innovation Activities in Universities

Dr. Kari Sipilä summarizes the success factors of innovation activities in universities as follows:

  1. The researchers have excellent knowledge in their fields and they are qualified and experienced
  2. Good working conditions and terms for the researchers
  3. Strong commitment and ethics
  4. Teamwork is natural
  5. Modern research facilities and information channels
  6. Positive and active attitude to inventions and their development in the management of the university
  7. Cooperation with other universities and companies
  8. University’s strategy, quality and financial strength are essential.
Dr. Kari Sipilä on June 1, 2004 in the Innovation Seminar in Shanghai, China organized by the Bureau of Science and Technology, Municipal Government of Shanghai:

Finnish Innovation System Brings Results

Development, growth and competitiveness are based on new ideas. Society continuously expects new ideas, inventions and commercially successful innovations from private citizens, from enterprises and large corporations as well as from researchers and other persons working in scientific and technological development. All the available resources for creativity and inventiveness must be utilised. In many fields inventions are based on the most recent research results and often also on the ability to combine information technology with other technologies. However, the development of an invention into a successful innovation requires significant human and financial resources and support organisations. In this way knowledge and know-how can be utilised and transformed into competitiveness, economic growth, new jobs and also into welfare.

Finland has a special cooperation organization, The Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland, which formulates the national science, technology and innovation policies. The Council is led by Prime Minister and there are members from public and private sectors. In the public sector the Ministries are in charge of the implementation of these policies and, accordingly, the companies act in the private sector. Additionally, there are several advisory, support and financing organizations to cooperate and work in the policy implementation.

The role of technology transfer continues strongly. Worldwide patent licensing revenues have grown from around USD 3 billion in 1982 to approximately USD 120 billion in 2003. ( EU: Innovation and Technology Transfer 1/ 04 ). The growth based on Intellectual Property Rights continues. Also the competition continues on many levels: between the companies, universities, countries and continents. Knowledge, research, technology, innovations and entrepreneurship are the key words in different strategies and policies all over the world. The real key questions are, who get first the best contents and value to these goals and who is the most skillful in innovative business.

Dr. Kari Sipilä from Finland the new President of LES Scandinavia (Licensing Executives Society)

The new President of LES Scandinavia for the next two years starting from August 31, 2004 is Dr. Kari Sipila from Finland. Mr. Sindre-Jacob Bostad from Norway is Past President and Mr. Leif Nielsen from Denmark is President Elect. Mr. Goran Bergqvist from Sweden continues as Secretary of LES Scandinavia. For further information, see: www.les-scandinavia.org.

LES Scandinavia arranged the 2004 Annual Conference in Tampere, Finland at the end of August with a theme “ From innovation to licensing”. The conference was very successful. It concentrated to creativity and innovations, which are keys to success, when the only permanence is continuous change. Creativity leads to innovations and innovations lead to new technologies, business models, intellectual property and licensing. The three day conference attracted 170 specialists from 13 countries. The number of members is 485, which is among the largest within LESI. During the previous year there were many activities, seminars and meetings and especially the very successful LESI world conference in Oslo, Norway. Worldwide LES has 11000 members.