Press: “IP Strategy: Think Beyond the Sword and Shield”

“John Palfrey’s book, Intellectual Property Strategy discusses how a flexible and creative approach to intellectual property can help an organization accomplish goals ranging from building market share to expanding an industry. TAP had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Palfrey about this book, and why he believes intellectual property should be considered a key strategic asset class.

“The building of a Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a big passion of mine. In a digital library network, I expect that most Americans will access digital resources through their local public library. I think that the DPLA will succeed most dramatically if it is like plumbing: we all rely upon it, but we don’t necessarily think about it all the time or know how it’s put together. If we can be much smarter about sharing our digitized cultural heritage resources — books, yes, but images, moving pictures, audio files, interactive games, and more — and making them available to libraries to put in context for their own patrons, we can achieve great things together. Our country needs this resource — and we’re falling behind other countries, like some in Europe and East Asia, that are building national digital networks.

“Yes, very much so. The chapter on non-profits is directly relevant to the DPLA and its mission. For the DPLA, the idea is to provide an open, shared, interoperable resource — the opposite of a proprietary, closed resource that is consistent with the sword and shield model. The Internet and digital media era makes great things possible, but we need to build it, and build systems like the DPLA, with the right principles in place from the start.”

From the Technology | Academics | Policy (TAP) interview with John Palfrey, IP Strategy: Think Beyond the Sword and Shield