knowledge - CIP FORUM 2011

cIP FoRUm 2011 | ProGram
cIP FoRUm – a teN
YeaR sUccess stoRY
Launching a new international business conference among many was a daring venture when
in 2001 CIP, the Center for Intellectual Property at Chalmers University of Technology and
the University of Gothenburg, organized its first CIP ForUm. When a number of invited,
internationally renowned industrialists, academics and representatives of the public sector rapidly
confirmed their partici pation, however, the organizers knew that they were on the right track:
Intellectual Property, IP, was increasingly seen as a key element in the ongoing transition to a
knowledge economy.
Over the last ten years, the CIP FOrum has played
a central role in expanding the traditionally legal
discourse on intellectual property rights into a new,
inter-disciplinary knowledge-based business dialogue
at the core of strategic management in industry and
universities. In the process the event has grown from a
rather humble four page program, 50 participants and
15 speakers in 2001 to something much larger ten years
later. Linking theory and practice and mixing executives
with masters students, is at the core of the unique
experience in Gothenburg every two years. Where else
but CIP FOrum can you discuss new IP-based business
models with your “chauffeur” from the airport?
strateGic and oPerational
The first CIP FOrum had two main topics:
Technology/r&D collaboration and alliances in industry,
and IP litigation & legal strategies. Additional
topics included business strategies/IP strategies,
Intellectual Capital management and IP valuation.
Two years later the theme of the 2003 CIP FOrum
was “managing the Intellectual Value Chain”.
In 2005 the response to the quest for IP under standing,
not least from industry, spurred the organizers to focus
on “managing IP as Core Business”. The event went
even further to show that IP management was not
only an issue for major corporations; it applied equally
to new innovation firms, SmE´s, public research organizations,
incubators and universities, and spanned
the strategic and operational level. Furthermore it
was stated that the main goal of CIP FOrum was
to foster a process of continuous learning and competence
building within IP and knowledge-based business
management, to the benefit of industry, academia
and society as a whole.
Pivotal role
The 2007 CIP FOrum was held in an even more
positive spirit, under the theme “En route to an intellectualized
economy”. The growth of knowledge-based
business development had been exponential during the
past six years, with industry gradually transforming itself
into knowledge-based business and universities finding
their entrepreneurial role as engines of innovation.
The organizers however also warned that the knowledge
economy was still a moving target, with game- changing
new business often being built on unexamined foundations
and operating globally without globally harmonized
or even acknowledged business rules for this new
economy. “In 2007 it is safe to say that there is little
doubt that intellectual assets, property and capital will
play a pivotal role in relation to wealth and welfare in
the 21st century,” the organizers wrote.
no. 2 in euroPe
The 2009 CIP FOrum was organized against a backdrop
of financialcrisis and a general sense of industrial
and commercial gloom worldwide. The Forum
however attracted even more participants and served
them a well assorted buffet of topics under the theme
“The Future of of Innovation.” Again the atmosphere
was one of general optimism about the prospects of
the knowledge economy. It was underlined that this
required continuous investments in innovation and
entrepreneurship, something Gothenburg and western
Sweden have taken to heart. In fact the western Sweden
cIP FoRUm 2011 | ProGram
region is, next to Stuttgart, Germany, the European
region investing most in corporate research and
development, making it a world leader in this respect.
Hosting an event on translating investments in knowledge
into wealth and welfare was never more relevant.
2011 and beyond
The world has moved forward rapidly over the last ten
years and nowadays more and more people in industry,
academia, and government accept the need to focus
on IP and knowledge-based business development to
create strong cities, regions, and nations. Knowledge
is generally accepted as “The New Wealth of Nations”
while at the same time businesses are growing beyond
the borders of nations – driving the need for collaborative
innovation.
Ten years ago the organizers had a vision of building
a new understanding of how intellectual property
could create wealth and welfare in the knowledge economy.
Beyond a new understanding, a community of
friends was forged that will remain long after the lights
are turned off.
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