In discussing the role of chief intellectual property counsel (CIPC) with Wayne Sobon, senior vice president and general counsel at Inventergy and president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the conversation moved from talk of the potential IP challenges of 3D printing to comparisons between CIPC and professional hockey players. During the conversation, however, Sobon painted one picture that stuck out from the rest.
“The most effective chief IP counsel sit at the boundary line between ideas and business value,” Sobon says. It’s a clear distillation of an extremely important point. As discussed in the first part of this series, intellectual property has risen to become an essential business asset in the modern economy. Because of this increased importance, more and more companies realize the need for a chief IP counsel, and, more specifically, one who possesses both business and technical competence.
