Discussion Questions

November 15, 2012

POSTECH Strategic Management of Information and Technology Laboratory(POSMIT: http://posmit.postech.ac.kr)

Dept. of Industrial & Management EngineeringPOSTECH

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Discussion Questions

■ Chapter 9. Collaboration Strategies

3. Can you identify a situation in which none of the legal protection mechanisms dis-cussed (patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets) will prove useful?

– When it is possible to “invent around” a patent– For example, the functions of a technology can be reproduced

without having to produce them in the same way as the original product was produced A patent will be of no use

– Commercialization of a product reveals the underlying technology The value of a trade secret is eliminated (e.g., many electronic products)

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Discussion Questions

■ Chapter 9. Collaboration Strategies

4. What factors do you believe influenced the choice of protection strategy used for the innovation of a certain company? Do you think the strategy was a good choice?

– Dupont’s Teflon• Dupont patented the chemical discovery, polymerized tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in 1941• Dupont also registered the trademark Teflon

– Protecting the product via patent & the name via trademark Very successful choice for Dupont. • After years of proprietary ownership over the product which gave Dupont an opportunity to

firmly establish the name of Teflon with its product, it is now able to earn considerable margins on the product even though it could be produced by any number of other manufacturers