Patent or Perish: A Guide for Gaining and Maintaining Competitive Advantage in the Knowledge Economy

Patent or Perish explains in clear and simple terms the vital role patents play in enabling high technology firms to gain and maintain a competitive edge in the knowledge economy. Patent or Perish describes how technologies like the Internet remove traditional barriers to entry and enable competitors to quickly and effortlessly duplicate positions of competitive advantage and shows why just having good ideas is not enough. This books shows why companies need good ideas that can be patented.

Patent or Perish shows how companies like HP and Lexmark use patents (and other intellectual properties) to create highly profitable computer printer business models - and keep competitors at bay.

The creation and protection of intellectual property is essential to survival of high-tech firms. This book explains the value of knowledge and why you have to protect it. It explores the dichotomy between traditional patenting and licensing strategies that are focused on discrete technologies, and how to apply these strategies in complex technologies.

Patent or Perish will help any high technology firm make better decisions regarding what patents to file: you will learn what makes a valuable patent, and, more importantly, what doesn't.

You will learn how to view patents as part of overall business strategy. Most important, you will learn practical strategies for how to use patents to create and defend strong market positions.

Some of the most important topics featured are:

- How companies like HP and Lexmark use patents to create the highly profitable computer printer business
- Why Open Source is a threat to small and independent software developers
- Why the invention strategy fails
- When filing fewer patents can be better
- How to determine the value of a patent