The British are Here!

The UK holds a unique position in intellectual property world, especially publishing and services. At least several of the top IP publications are British or British-owned. IAM(IP Media Group), Managing Intellectual Property (Euromoney Institutional Investor), IP Review (CPA Global), World IP Review (Newton Media) and Intellectual Property Magazine (Informa).

IP Law & Business, recently folded into Corporate Counsel, is owned by American Lawyer Media, which was acquired two years ago by British media and private equity firms and is now under the direction of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Jeremy Phillips’ seven plus blogs,IPKat and IP Finance among them, also originate in England. (Jeremy, BTW, founded MIP.) 

Additionally, the leading IP brokerage and transactions firm, ICAP OT, trades on the FITSE, and CPA Global, the leading IP renewals and administrative business, recently acquired in a management buy-out that valued it at $1.5b (USD), is located in Jersey (not New Joisey!). Anaqua, the top IAM software company that recently acquired SGA2, a French renewals business, was originally established in London and still has a key office there. There are other examples too numerous to cite.

English may be better equipped to observe and compute the world IP scene more effectively than Americans, who for the most part enjoy the best protections and reap the largest returns. The Brits are making it clear that there are many ways for many nations to participate in lucrative market for owning and understanding intellectual assets and the services that are required to maintain them.

In the 19th century gold miners relied on a variety of businesses to sell them picks, shovels and maps. In the early 20th century oil speculators needed drilling rigs and geological surveys. Digging for new ideas can be as daunting as mining for ore or drilling for crude.

Innovators and innovation managers need all of the help they can get. Apparently they are getting a lot of it from UK providers.

Illustration: EMI Canada