Licensing Intellectual Property In Thailand

By Woranuch Periera and Edward A. Madden

For many modern-day businesses, developing a strong intellectual property portfolio (whether copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret) is regarded as a major objective. The attractiveness of holding strong IP assets is not just the competitive advantage it can confer (in the technological sense) over competitors, but a properly managed IP portfolio can also be a source of revenue for a business. The case of IBM illustrates the point. For many readers, IBM is synonymous with the production of computers, yet the majority of IBM's revenue comes from royalties from third parties who have paid for rights (licenses) to use IBM's proprietary technology. Today, IBM concentrates on developing and licensing new technology to business partners. Each year, IBM generates revenue in excess of US$1 billion.