Preparing for the Manila Conference, Some Exciting Initiatives and More!

This report is being written following the LES International Board’s teleconference on the 14th/15th April 2009.   The time extremities of our monthly teleconference currently mean that the European Board members start at 11.00pm and some of the Asia Pacific members start at 5.00am.  A truly dedicated bunch!

Manila

Part of the planning for the LES International Conference in Manila involves planning for the Board, Committee, Task Force, Presidents and Delegates Meetings which take place before the Conference between 5th – 7th June 2009.  As part of providing a greater transparency into the workings of LES International I set out below the agenda for those meetings.

AGENDA FOR BOARD AND COMMITTEE  MEETINGS
MANILA
FRIDAY, 5th JUNE 2009
Makati Shangri-La Hotel

LESI MANILA COMMITTEE, PRESIDENTS, BOARD AND TASK FORCE MEETINGS SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, 6TH JUNE 2009
Makati Shangri-La Hotel
All meeting rooms are on the Lobby level (adjacent to the registration area)
Quezon A/B/C is on the Lower Lobby level
Rizal C is on level 2.

AGENDA FOR DELEGATES MEETINGS
MANILA
SUNDAY, 7th JUNE 2009
Rizal A/B, Makati Shangri-La Hotel

Should any of you wish to attend any of the Committee or Task Force meetings or be observers at the Delegates Meeting, there is a separate registration process for attendance. Please contact either myself on Adam.Liberman@csiro.au or Stephanie Silverstein at ssilverstein@lesi.org and we will provide you with the necessary registration forms.

I am very much looking forward to the LES events in Manila and look forward to meeting as many of you there as possible.

Global Responsibility Licence

Amongst the exciting issues being considered by the LES Board is a possible project which emanates from the World Economic Forum.  The Young Global Leader Program. The project is known as the “Global Responsibility Licence” and is designed to make intellectual property rights available for non market philanthropic uses. A number of significant patent holders have expressed interest in the project and LES has been asked to contribute its views as to the feasibility and possible terms of such a licence.  The project has the potential to create enormous social benefits through the licensing of intellectual property rights.  I will keep you advised of further developments.

Visits to LES Societies

I attended the LES Australia and New Zealand meeting in Canberra between 2nd – 4th April 2009.  This was an excellent conference with a fantastic array of local and international speakers. 

During the course of my speech in Canberra I made a point that public good research activities need to consider the intellectual property implications of undertaking a research activity as well as the intellectual property status of the products of that activity in order the maximise the likelihood of that research activity having a beneficial impact for society in a timely manner.  That is, intellectual property is an important consideration in public good research !  I believe that this message will need significant repetition in order for its implications to be truly understood.

During July and August I am planning to visit LES Singapore, LES Japan, LES China, LES Malaysia as well as the Hong Kong Chapter of LES China. 

Industry, Professional and Regional Committees

Finally I would like to encourage your involvement with LES International and the easiest way to do that is through the above Committees.  Pick one and email or talk to a Committee Chair about how you can contribute.  If you have any difficulties please feel free to contact me directly on the above email address.   

Adam Liberman
President
LES International
17th April 2009

March 2009

LESI India Conference and LES International Winter Planning Meeting          — A Great Success!

by Adam Liberman, President, LES International

LES India Conference

Notwithstanding the troubled economic times that we are all confronting and the security concerns arising from the events in Mumbai in November 2008, both the LES India Conference and the LES International Winter Planning Meeting held at the Imperial Hotel in New Delhi between the 29th January and 1st February 2009, were a great success!

The LES India Conference was a two day event that not only attracted over 100 registrants but had a world class program with exceptional speakers from both India and overseas. A particularly pleasing feature of the Conference was the large number of young registrants and that they came from all over India. Ramkrishna Subbaraman, Chair of the Organising Committee and his Co-Chairs Krishna Sarma and Subramaniam Votha are to be congratulated for arranging this wonderful event.

In his concluding remarks at the Conference Ramkrishna Subbaraman referred to the Conference as a watershed event in the short history of LES India and that it would provide further impetus for growth of the Society throughout India. In my concluding remarks I welcomed this result and also encouraged those who attended the conference from India to engage with the broader LES International community by attending LES International conferences and conferences of other LES Societies.

The social highlights of the conference included an Indian dinner and cultural program on the first evening of the Conference and a reception and dinner at the Australian High Commission on the second evening of the Conference. That latter was hosted by John McCarthy, Australian High Commissioner to India.

LES International Winter Planning Meeting

The LES International Winter Planning Meeting was attended by representatives from a broad cross section of LES Societies, including Australia and New Zealand, Benelux, Hong Kong, France, Germany, USA & Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Scandinavia, the Philippines, Britain and Ireland and India.

The following significant matters were dealt with at the meeting:

Identity

In relation to the seven identity questions that I posed at the LES Pan European Meeting in Amsterdam in September 2008 and referred to in the December issue of les Nouvelles, the
following points of consensus were reached:

• that “LES” describes your Society, the other LES Societies around the world and LES International;
• that all business dealings with intellectual property of which licensing and technology transfer is an example, best describes the subject matter that the activities of LES seek to cover;
• that the principal mission of LES is to educate and provide networking opportunities locally and worldwide for those interested in all business dealings with intellectual property, of which licensing and technology transfer is an example;
• that persons from a variety of professional and business backgrounds interested in all business dealings with intellectual property, of which licensing executives, lawyers and patent attorneys form part, best describes the individual membership that is sought for LES;
• that business dealings with intellectual property is subject matter that is not well covered by Societies outside LES; and
• that LES would like to be known as the world’s leading Society providing education and networking for those interested in business dealings with intellectual property.

In relation to the Society’s name I pointed out that other intellectual property based societies have changed their names over the years, as they evolved. The three examples given were:

• INTA (est. 1878) changed is name from USTA in 1993. The rationale given being that “the Association votes to change its name to the International Trademark Association to reflect the diversity of its membership; today more than one half of the members are from outside North America. The name change eliminates what had become a restrictive and geographically misdescriptive characterisation of the association.”
• AUTM (est. 1974) changed its name from the Society of the University Patent Admin-istrators. The rationale was identified as “through the years AUTM has grown beyond (its) single objective and now provides professional development and networking opportunities for technology transfer professionals at all career levels and from established and newly formed organisations worldwide.”;
• The American Intellectual Property Law Association (est. 1897) changed is name from the American Patent Law Association in 1984. The rationale for that being “to recognise and serve the expanding world of intellectual property.”

No consensus was reached as to the Society’s name and this matter will be considered in greater detail at the Manila LES International Delegates Meeting. Proponents for particular positions in relation to the name have been identified and they will present their cases in Manila. Anyone wishing to present a position should contact me.

Young LESI Executives Task Force

Jim Malackowski reported as to the activities of the Task Force which included having received expressions of interest from extra volunteers. The Task Force hopes to hold an event at the time of the LES (USA & Canada) Annual Conference and LES International Delegates Meeting in San Francisco, 19–23 October 2009.

Women in LES Task Force

Patricia Bunye reported on the progress of the activities of the Task Force including a proposed survey of members which is expected to be completed before the LES International Annual Conference in Manila.

Committees

The meeting endorsed the name change of “Operating Committees” to “Management Committees” and “Working Group Committees” to “Industry, Professional and Regional Committees.”

The meeting also endorsed the performance criteria for Industry, Professional and Regional Committees which appeared in my letter of welcome and expectation to Committee Chairs. The performance criteria advised to Committee Chairs are as follows:

(a) timely submission of your Committee’s written report for the purposes of the working papers to be used at LESI Delegates Meetings and for the purpose of the LESI Annual Report;

(b) ensure that your Committee has a program of activities for the coming year, including arranging workshops and other presentations at LES International and LES (USA & Canada) conferences;

(c) ensure that the membership of your Committee continues to grow;

(d) ensure that the membership of your Committee is diversified so far as representation of members from LESI Societies is concerned;

(e) ensure that there is a succession plan for the leadership of your Committee;

(f) ensure that your Committee contributes at least one article a year to les Nouvelles;

(g) ensure that you encourage participation of younger LES members (under 40 years of age) and female LES members in the activities and management of your Committee;

(h) ensure that you liaise with the Chair of any comparable LES (USA & Canada) Committee to conduct events including workshops at LES (USA & Canada) Annual Conference

(i) ensure regular communication amongst your Committee members between Committee meetings that are held at LESI Delegates Meetings;

(j) ensure the conduct of active Committee meetings at LESI Delegates Meetings; and

(k) ensure that your Committee’s web pages are properly utilised and maintained with up to date information.

National Societies

The meeting also endorsed the performance criteria for National Societies which appeared in my letter of welcome and expectation to National Presidents. The performance criteria advised to National Presidents are as follows:

(a) timely payment of dues to LESI;

(b) timely submission of your Society’s written report and fact sheet for the purposes of the working papers to be used at LESI Delegates Meetings;

(c) timely submission of your Society’s written report for the purpose of the LESI Annual Report;

(d) that your Society sends delegates to all LESI Delegates Meetings;

(e) that your Society has a regular and active calendar of events;

(f) that the membership of your Society continues to grow;

(g) that the membership of your Society is diversified so far as business and industry members on the one hand and professional service providers on the other hand;

(h) that the management of your Society is regularly rotated so that it is not controlled by members of one or a limited number of organisations – e.g. one law firm or one patent attorney firm;

(i) that the members of your Society are well represented in LESI Committees;

(j) that you encourage participation of younger members (under 40 years of age) and female members in the activities and management of your Society, including as Delegates; and

(k) that your Society’s Web site is properly utilised and maintained with up to date information.

Organisational Membership

Organisational membership was discussed, with significant support for the concept being expressed.

Proponents for particular positions in relation to this matter have been identified and they will present their  cases in Manila. Anyone wishing to present a position should contact me.

Long Range Planning Committee

Paul Germeraad, Co-Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee identified what actions had been taken to date in relation to the following three tasks allocated to that Committee and sought input from the meeting on each of those tasks in order that preliminary recommendations can be considered at the LES International Annual Conference in Manila:

• Review the LES International by-laws with a view to suggesting amendments to ensure their continued relevance and appropriateness for the future development of the Society;
• Make recommendations as to whether the term of office of the President of LES International should be greater than one year; and
• Make recommendations as to improvements in transparency and process in the election of LES Board members, so as to ensure a greater engagement with the LES International Community.

During the course of discussions on the above, the view was endorsed that from an organisational perspective LES International was a hub with the LES National Societies at the end of its spokes and that it provided the glue by which LES was co-ordinated worldwide.

Industry, Professional and Regional Committees

Kevin Nachtrab, Vice President on the Board responsible for Industry, Professional and Regional Committees gave an excellent presentation of the issues confronting those Committees and the actions needed to deal with those issues. Contrary to the current paradigm, Kevin identified these Committees as gateways to active participation in LES activities. In order to achieve that outcome the following actions have been taken:

• Project list and action plan templates have been prepared. As a result 7 Committees have action plans that have been received and are in the process of being finalised. Those committees are: Americas, Chemical, Energy Environmental, Copyright Licensing, European, Industry, University and Government, Life Sciences and Patent and Technology Licensing.
• An Industry, Professional and Regional Committees Manual has been prepared for 2008.
• A cross LES Society Committee initiative has been commenced. This initiative will result in a greater dialogue between LES National Society Committees and the LES International Committees.
• A communications plan has been prepared. This includes Kevin having monthly telephone conferences with Committee Chairs.

All in all Kevin identified a process by which the Industry, Professional and Regional Committees were being “re-tooled” so that they are more visible and active and present a genuine gateway for involvement in LES activities.

External Relations Committee

Art Rose, Co-Chair of the External Relations Committee gave an update on the activities of that Committee, including planned visits to and invitations to organisations such as WIPO.

Meetings Committee

Ted Cross, Vice Chair of the Meetings Committee confirmed the following as the dates and locations of the next four LES International Annual Conferences:-

• June 7–10, 2009 – Makita City, Philippines;
• April 11–14, 2010 – Sandton, South Africa;
• June 4–8, 2011 – London, England; and
• April (Easter) 2012 – Auckland, New Zealand.

He also advised the meeting that he hoped to have the LES International Meetings Manual update completed by the LES International Annual Conference in Manila and to also have a draft of the LES International Sponsorship Policy also by that date.

Speaking up for IP

Barry Quest gave a presentation identifying examples where intellectual property had been attacked in a misinformed manner. The meeting endorsed the approach of LES International responding to such attacks in an informed and balanced manner.

What do you want LES to be and be known for in 2013?

The meeting concluded with some interesting views as to what LES would be like in 2013, including a Society with a more sophisticated on-line presence, a Society with double its current membership, reflecting growth of LES particularly in less mature markets, a Society where 25% of the attendees at the Winter Planning Meeting would be under the age of 40 and a Society where 1% of the total membership would attend the LES International Annual Conference.

LES International Board Meeting

During the course of the LES India Conference and the LES International Winter Planning Meeting, the LES International Board met on no fewer than 5 occasions discussed and actions taken were the following:

(a) Consideration and approval of the European Committee’s response to the pharmaceutical sector enquiry preliminary report published by the European Commission and to the European Committee’s response to the European Commission review of the current regime for the assessment of horizontal co-operation agreements;

(b) Review of each Board members written report on their allocated tasks and identifying actions arising from those reports;

(c) Review of the LES International budget for 2009;

(d) Communication Committee issue with Barry Quest, the Chair of the Communications Committee; and

(e) Review of the LES Europe initiative.

A schedule for Board meetings via tele-conferences was agreed to for the balance of the year as follows using Sydney time as the reference point—March 10, April 14, May 12, July 14, August 11 and September 15.

Anyone wishing to place an item on the Board’s agenda is welcome to contact me.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Manila!

Adam Liberman
President
LES International
10th March 2009

March 2009

Communication is important for all organisations, and none the less so for LES, with its worldwide reach

by Adam Liberman, President, LES International

Communication is important for all organisations, and none the less so for LES, with its worldwide reach. 

It has therefore been a priority for me, in taking up my position as President of LES International, to continue the modernisation of LESI communications. 

New LES International Website 

In line with this, there is now a new-look web site at www.lesi.org, crafted by Steve Poile working with our web service provider. The site is being updated and improved continually, so please make sure you check it out regularly.

The home page continues to have an emphasis on news and is kept up to date with the assistance of Larry Plonsker. We are moving towards new, enhanced functionality for many sections. The Communications Committee is currently looking at improvements to the Industry, Professional and Regional Committee and Management Committee pages to facilitate upload of reports and information, and to enable easy communication between members. Also, other interactive areas, including forums (message boards), and on-line submission of working paper information will be introduced and enhanced.

To keep up with modern usage and trends, there is already a President’s blog, at www.lesinews.blogspot.com, Communication Committee tweets can be followed at www.twitter.com/lesi_comms, Google Documents is in use for interchange of LESI papers, and YouTube video is coming. All these facilities will be accessible from the home page of the LESI web site.

LES International Membership Directory

The web site contains the membership directory which is regularly updated by the Societies, and this is the modern way of providing easy access to current information. As a result the CD containing membership data is no longer necessary and has been discontinued.

This will result in a considerable saving, keeping costs down and releasing funds which can be better spent on other member facilities.

The additional benefit of doing away with the CD format is that the CD format always had the inherent difficulty that the data on it was out of date immediately after the CD was published. Now we have a system where the membership directory is kept continually up to date and therefore continually relevant for your use.

---

December 2008

Looking To The Future - A Year Of Bold New Ideas And Actions

by Adam Liberman, President, LES International

During the course of the International Delegates Meeting in Amsterdam on 28th  September 2008 I presented my agenda for the upcoming year. That agenda is based on the theme of “Looking to the future—a year of bold new ideas and actions.”

Looking to the future does not mean that we ignore the past. It means learning from it. It also means seeking to realise the unfulfilled potential of our great Society!

Realising that unfulfilled potential will need bold new ideas, matched by bold actions. There is “no cigar” for the easy way out, for the easy options!

Having set the scene in an attitudinal and strategic sense, I set out below the eight components of my agenda and consider each of them in greater detail. 

• Broadening our engagement;
• Regeneration (not recycling!);
• Understanding our roles and being accountable
• Identity (dealing with the “elephant in the room”!);
• Organisational membership;
• Speaking up for IP !; and
• Getting the little things right. 

Broadening Our Engagement

Broadening our engagement is based on the philosophy that LES, i.e. LES International and its constituent Societies—and its leaders, need to be more inclusive and less exclusive!

As part of implementing that philosophy, the following initiatives have been undertaken:

In order to promote LES in India and to invigorate LES India, a conference will be held in New Delhi at the Imperial Hotel between 29-30 January 2009 immediately preceding the LESI Winter Planning Meeting between 31 January–2 February 2009. A conference program will be available shortly.

The invitees to the LESI Winter Planning Meeting will be broadened beyond the traditional invitees of Board Members, Co-Counsel, Committee Chairs, National Presidents and Past Presidents, to include Delegates. Registration details for this event will be available shortly.

An “Evening with the President” has been arranged for Tuesday, 9th June 2009 as part of the LESI International Conference in Manila to be held between 7-10 June 2009. This will provide an opportunity for those participating in the conference to meet with me in an informal setting to discuss the workings of LES and how they can contribute.

A “Women in LESI Task Force” has been established. The members of that Task Force are as follows:- 

• Lynda Covello (Chair) - LES (USA & Canada);
• Catherine Jelinek - LES Chile;
• Patricia Bunye - LES Philipines;
• Pauline Khor Hong Ping - LES Malaysia;
• Sun Ryung Kim - LES Korea; and
• Christi Mitchell - LES Britain & Ireland.

The terms of reference of the Task Force are as follows:-

1. Does LESI adequately cater for the networking and education needs of women interested in the business of intellectual property, including the licensing of intellectual property rights? If no, what is recommended?
2. Are women adequately represented at Board, Delegate and Committee levels within LESI? If no, what is recommended?
3. Should a Women Executives Committee be established as a permanent committee of LESI to address the networking and education needs of women within LESI? If yes, why?

The Task Force is to present its final recommendations to the meeting of International Delegates in San Francisco in October 2009.LESI members will receive emails from me on significant issues relating to the activities of LESI.

I will be visiting the following Societies between 1-23 October 2008; LES Britain and Ireland, LES Czech Republic, LES France, LES Spain and Portugal, LES Germany, LES Hungary, LES Austria, LES Croatia and LES (USA & Canada). My visits will be focused not just on meeting with the Boards of those Societies, but with the members of those Societies. Visits to other Societies are in the planning phase.

Regeneration (Not Recycling!)

Regeneration is defined in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary as “to bring new and more vigorous life to….”Regeneration is needed if we are to have a vibrant and relevant Society. A Society that relies too much on recycling its leaders or ideas is unlikely to maintain that vibrance and relevance. As part of the regeneration program for LESI I have established a “Young Executives in LESI Task Force.” The members of that Task Force are as follows:-

• James Malackowski (Chair)—LES (USA & Canada);
• Allan Jarry—LES Chile;
• François Painchaud—LES (USA & Canada);
• Markus Ineichen—LES Switzerland;
• Simon Rowell—LESANZ; and
• Peter Hess—LES Germany.

The terms of reference of that Task Force are as follows:

1. Does LESI adequately cater for the networking and education needs of young executives under the age of 40 interested in the business of intellectual property, including the licensing of intellectual property rights? If no, what is recommended?
2. Are young executives under the age of 40 adequately represented at Board, Delegate and Committee levels within LESI? If no, what is recommended?
3. Should a Young Executives Committee be established as a permanent committee of LESI to address the networking and education needs of young executives under the age of 40 within LESI? If yes, why?

The Task Force is to present its final recommendations to the meeting of International Delegates in San Francisco in October 2009.

Understanding Our Roles And Being Accountable

Each National President, Committee Chair, Board Member, Co-Counsel and Delegate has received a letter of welcome and expectations from me. These letters set out responsibilities for each of these groups. In the case of the National Presidents, those core responsibilities include ensuring that their Society meets the following criteria:

• Timely payment of dues to LESI;
• Timely submission or Society reports and fact sheets for the purposes of working papers to be used at LES International Delegates Meetings;
• Timely submission of Society written reports for the purpose of the LESI Annual Report;
• That the Society sends delegates to all LESI Delegates Meetings;
• That the Society has a regular and active calendar of events;
• That the membership of the Society continues to grow;
• That the membership of the Society is diversified so far as business and industry members on the one hand and professional service providers on the other;
• That the management of the Society is changed regularly so that it is not controlled by members of one or a limited number of organisations;
• That members of the Society are well represented on the LESI committees;
• That the Society encourages participation of younger members (under 40 years of age) and female members in the activities and management of the Society, including as Delegates;
• That the Society’s Web site is properly utilised and maintained with up to date information.

The letters also contain very specific tasks—e.g. the Membership Committee has been tasked with assessing our membership against WIPO patent filing data so that we can proactively determine countries where we should be doing better so far as membership is concerned and those countries where we should have a Society, but currently do not.

A copy of those letters were made available to all those attending the Amsterdam International Delegates Meeting such that everyone knows the respondibilities of others.

I also set out the table of Chairs and Vice Chairs for the upcoming year. Some additional Vice Chairs are also to be appointed by Committee Chairs.

Governance

The LESI Board responsibilities for the 2008/2009 year are based on ensuring that Board Members and Co-Counsel have focused responsibilities, are pro-active in dealing with those responsibilities, and that all the skills and talents of Board members and the Co-Counsel are maximised. The resultant LESI Board and Co-Counsel responsibilities for 2008/2009 are set out on page 4.

Also in the context of governance I have:

• Asked the Long Range Planning Committee to undertake the following:
  • Review the LESI by-laws with a view to suggesting amendments to ensure their continued relevance and appropriateness for the future development of the Society;
  • Make recommendations as to whether the term of office of the President of LES International should be greater than one year;
  • Make recommendations as to improvements in transparency and process in the election of LESI Board Members so as to ensure greater engagement with the LESI Community.
• Initiated the creation of operating manuals for Management Committee Chairs and Industry, Professional and Regional Committee Chairs;
• Initiated the holding of meetings by Management Committee Chairs and Industr y, Professional and Regional Committee Chairs at International Delegates Meetings so as to ensure the exchange and implementation of best practices.

Identity

The most significant fundamental issue that I intend to address during my year as President is clarifying the identity of LESI. On that front, I make the following observations.

Non Alignment

LES began in 1965 as a USA & Canada Society focused on licensing. In 1965, the name “Licensing Executives Society” adequately identified both the subject matter of that Society’s activities and its target membership. Between 1965 and 2008 licensing has become only one part of a wider rangeof business activities using intellectual property. Also between 1965 and 2008, LES has broadened its focus beyond licensing as the principal form of business activity using intellectual property. My contention is therefore that the name “Licensing Executives Society” no longer adequately identifies the subject matter of its activities or its target membership. A non-alignment has therefore arisen between our name, our activities and our targeted membership.

Addressing the non-alignment

There are three ways in which the above non alignment can be addressed:

• Narrow activities to align with current name (Option 1);
• Explain our activities, notwithstanding the non alignment (Option 2); or
• Change our name to align with our current and proposed future activities/targeted membership (Option 3).

Adopting Option 1 would be against the trend of intellectual property’s greater relevance to business activities, and should be readily dismissed.

Option 2 is what we have been trying to do to date. The difficulties in relation to Option 2 are that we need to be clear about our identity and our audience needs to want to hear our explanation, have the time to hear our explanation, understand our explanation and retain that understanding. These pre-conditions have not been met to any significant extent. Evidence of the failure of Option 2 is demonstrated in the Table of LESI Membership Numbers shown on this page. At best the numbers reflect stagnant membership. At worst they reflect declining membership. The numbers are however worrying because intellectual property is now of greater relevance and interest than ever before!

In my view with the current interest in intellectual property in the business context, LES membership should be double the numbers set out for the 2007 year. In relation to Option 3, LESI has in fact broadened the focus of its activities well beyond licensing as the principal form of business activity using intellectual property. One only has to look at the content of les Nouvelles, the content of LES conference programs and other LES educational offerings to see that licensing now only forms one part of that broader content. Aligning the name with its actual activities and the targeted membership of the Society would make it easy for those outside the Society to know what we do; make it easy for those inside the Society to explain what we do, and make our name speak for itself!

Failure to adopt Option 3 or other appropriate alignment will in my view mean:

• The loss of a golden opportunity to clearly distinguish ourselves from other IP-based Societies;
• That we continue to be marginalised and misunderstood whilst intellectual property takes a greater foothold in business activities throughout the world; and
• We will not realise our true potential.

There is a vast landscape of activity and subject matter involving the relationship between business and intellectual property for us to clearly identify as being within our borders, if we have the courage to do so!

The above non alignment argument is separate from the additional difficulties that many people have in understanding what the term “licensing” means. The founders of LES took a bold step in identifying the path for the Society in 1965. Over 40 years have now passed and we are now in a very different environment.

We must take an equally bold step to ensure the future viability and relevance of LES. We must find our identity in that environment and present it boldly to our members and the outside world.

In order to determine the views of the International Delegates at the Amsterdam meeting on the issue of identity, I conducted an electronic voting session at which I obtained spontaneous and anonymous responses to the following questions. The results of the voting appear below.

The percentage favouring each response appears first and the absolute numbers in favour of each response appear in brackets next.

1. What do you understand LES to describe?

(a) your Society—7.7 percent (5);
(b) your Society and the other LES societies around the world—23.1 percent (15);
(c) LES International—6.2 percent (4);
(d) LES International and its constituent Societies— 58.5 percent (38); and
(e) none of the above—4.6 percent (3).

2. Which of the following best describes the subject matter that the activities of LES seek to cover?(a) the licensing of intellectual property—0 percent—( 0); or
(b) the licensing of intellectual property and technology transfer—19.7 percent (13); or
(c) all business dealings with intellectual property of which licensing and technology transfer is an example—78.8 percent (52); or
(d) none of the above—1.5 percent (1)

3. Which of the following best describes the principal mission of LES?

(a) to educate and provide networking opportunities locally and worldwide for those interested
in the licensing of intellectual property—1.6 percent (1);
(b) to educate and provide networking opportunities locally and worldwide for those interested
in the licensing of intellectual property and technology transfer—12.5 percent (8);
(c) to educate and provide networking opportunities locally and worldwide for those interested in all business dealings with intellectual property, of which licensing and technology transfer is an example—85.9 percent (55);
(d) none of the above—0 percent (0).

4. Which of the following best describes the individual membership that you would like to see LES comprise?

(a) licensing executives, lawyers and patent attorneys interested in the licensing of intellectual property—3.1 percent (2);
(b) licensing executives, lawyers and patent attorneys interested in the licensing of intellectual property and technology transfer—7.7 percent (5);
(c) persons from a variety of professional and business backgrounds interested in all business dealings with intellectual property, of which licensing executives, lawyers and patent attorneys form part—87.7 percent (57); and
(d) none of the above—1.5 percent (1).

5. Based on your knowledge of competing societies to LES worldwide, which of the following subject matter areas are not well covered by those other societies?

(a) intellectual property (IP) generally—1.5 percent (1);
(b) specific categories of IP—3.1 percent (2);
(c) licensing of IP—0 percent (0);
(d) licensing of IP and technology transfer—18.5 percent (12);
(e) business dealings with IP—66.2 percent (43); and
(f) none of the above—10.8 percent (7).

6. Based on the subject matter, mission and membership you have identified above, which of the following best describes how you would like the activities of LES to be perceived by those within and outside the Society?

(a) the world’s leading society promoting education and networking in the licensing of IP—1.5 percent (1);
(b) the world’s leading society promoting education and networking in the licensing of IP and technology transfer—18.5 percent (12);
(c) the world’s leading society connecting licensing professionals—9.2 percent (6);
(d) the world’s leading society promoting education and networking in the business of IP—67.7 percent (44); and
(e) none of the above—3.1 percent (2).

7. Based on the subject matter, mission and membership you have identified above, which of the following names best describes the activities of LES and its target for membership?

(a) Licensing Executives Society—33.8 percent (22);
(b) Business Executives Intellectual Property Society— 3.1 percent (2);
(c) Commercial Intellectual Property Society—9.2 percent (6);
(d) Business and Intellectual Property Society—20 percent (13); and
(e) none of the above—33.8 percent (22).

Discussions on this very important topic will continue in the three meetings that will occur during my year as President - at New Delhi, Manila and San Francisco.

Organisational Membership

The value of organisational membership, wrongly referred to by some just as “corporate membership”, will be reviewed during my year as President. Considerations in this area include member retention and proper engagement with the organisations that employ our constituency.

Speaking Up For IP

Intellectual property is not well understood even in what we may consider to be “sophisticated communities.” For example, public good objectives are seen incorrectly by some to be incompatible with intellectual property; “open source” is viewed as a framework which substitutes for intellectual property, rather than being reliant on intellectual property and in many instances the importance of intellectual property to the innovation process is marginalised.

You as individuals and we as a Society have an obligation to understand the perspectives that arise from such misunderstandings of intellectual property and once we have done that, we need to speak up for intellectual property! That means that we should not accept that it is a given that society will continue to see the benefits arising from intellectual property, as we do.

Getting The Little Things Right

This will deal with improving our administrative processes, including ensuring that our membership data is up to date, useful and accessible. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during my year as President and to your contribution to LES!

September 2008

Can We Wait Until 2050? A View of Long Range Planning

An Initiative for Regional Activities

By Chikao Fukuda, President, LES International

The G8 Summit of 2008 concluded in northern Japan and was recognized as the “Eco Summit.” The world political leaders got together on the day called “Tanabata” or “the Star Festival Day,” which is named after an old Japanese tale that the stars, Altair and Vega located on each side of the Galaxy, meet together once a year on July 7. “Eco” is one of the key words not only for the Summit leaders but also for the world to survive environmentally.

The Summit ended up with the conclusion that “by 2050 the G8 countries would have made their respective (best) efforts to reduce CO2 by 75 to 80% compared to the level of 2008.”

What does this mean? Isn’t there any more specific, reliable and/or practicable countermeasures available or reachable among the world’s political leaders on a Tanabata meeting? It seems that there is nothing common to all the leaders concerned. Well, it may be asking too much because each of the leaders has his/her own political difficulties in his/her country, and it is at least clever to reach such a “long term” conclusion. It may be better than nothing under the given environments.

It is not totally my purpose to criticize the above political conclusion, but I would admit we might do the same thing if we do not or cannot set up our planning specifically and properly. Let me turn to LES.

As many of you are aware, “Connecting the Licensing Professionals Around the World” is the official tag line of LES International (LESI), adapted several years ago. Therefore it is a basic guideline for us to determine the policies and activities of LESI. LESI is at present composed of 32 societies, and each society is placed under the umbrella of LESI. However, LESI has been trying to keep out of the management of each society, and historically each society decides its activities independently by its own leadership.

In this sense, despite the umbrella of LESI, I know many LES societies actively plan and conduct their own activities for the benefit of their members within their own region. Although there are some societies whose activities seem insufficient, it is important for us to assist them and achieve cooperation with them for the benefit of their members and members in the rest of the world. Otherwise, we will fail to accomplish our common goal, i.e., “Connecting the Licensing Professionals Around World.” There are many ways to connect the members worldwide, and the educational and networking activities being made by the respective LESI committees are all good examples.

Another example is for the members to get together internationally, and hence to develop the International Conference and have them held at diversified venues. It is not always practical to have members worldwide got together in one place. So, LESI will continue to manage and conduct the International Conferences as most attractive to the members at large, but also will think about more regional activities for the local members who are not able to attend the International Conferences due to the venue, cost, etc. One realistic movement is to have a seminar or conference held in one society with support by the other societies in the same region.

At present LESI has “three regions”: Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and we have “the regional presidents meeting” and “the regional committees.” On this basis, the Pan Europe Conference is being held in Europe when the LESI International Conference does not take place in Europe in that year, which assures that the members in the region can attend an international conference every year, such as one in Amsterdam this September. This is a good and successful example of our objective and LESI encourages the leaders of the other two regions to try a seminar or conference, which may fit the regional situation. In fact, the Americas carried out a seminar tour this August wherein LES (USA & Canada) sent excellent speakers to Brazil, Argentina and Chili for a week. This is, as I understand it, the first try for the Americas. The host societies appoint local speakers, and set up the venues and promotions for it. I joined the tour fromLESI in order to support this meaningful effort.

By the time you read this, we will have some results from this effort and I am confident that it will be appreciated by the local members and non-members who are interested in licensing and technology transfer, and that it becomes a step forward to the future planning. I also note this will contribute to the long pending issue of “visibility” of LES. In fact it needs great power and initiative to plan and actually organize this kind of tour, but it is really important for all of us to do something you/we can do now. I very much appreciate the speakers and many others concerned who spent much time and energy on the tour.

When you read this, my term as the President of LESI will be nearly over, as it ends at the close of the Amsterdam Delegates Meeting. I would like to express my sincere thanks for everything you have extended to me during my year, and I ask for your valuable support to my successor, Adam Liberman.

June 2008

Licensing Without Borders Conference Creates New Initiatives

By Chikao Fukuda, President, LES International

I am on the way back to Tokyo after attending the 2008 LES International Conference in Chicago. My wife Kazuko and I stayed in Sheraton, the venue of the Conference, for a week, and spent the first three days at the International Delegates Meeting, and the remaining three days at the International Conference. The Delegates Meeting is the decision making body of LESI where 32 national and regional societies have the right and obligation to send their “international delegates.” The Board requests the National Presidents, the Committee chairs and vice chairs and other invited persons to participate in the Meeting as well. This time 31 societies appeared to the Meeting, which was more than enough representation for the Board to lead the Meeting.

In addition to the typical reports and presentations by the Committees and others, I would like to note two things regarding the Communication Committee (CC) and Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC):

• CC has been and is doing a good job; the LESI Web site has been developed and I am
  sure it is now ready for your use for information and networking through Web site. I would like to encourage the members to visit and use it

• LRPC held a group discussion workshop where about 110 delegates and attendees made nine small groups and discussed the topics assigned to them, all relating to potential improvements for LESI. The areas we discussed about were “ways to increase membership,” “communication between LESI leadership and individual members,” “roles of the international delegates, committees, et.al,” “local society needs,” and so on. There have been various recommendations from the participants and they will be analyzed by LRPC, and finally by the board of LESI. If the board thinks it appropriate, we will (try to) adopt some of them to make the LESI activities fresh and give benefits to the individual members worldwide. When necessary the board shall move forward to amend the By-Laws of LESI. This group discussion was first tried at the Tokyo Winter Meeting this January, as I previously reported in March Issue. I want to continue this course at least until the Amsterdam delegates meeting in late September. As a non-profit organization, LESI always needs to make changes in some or many ways, but such changes must have support of the individual members.

The other side of the Conference is networking between and among the individual members irrespective of the geographic location of each member. The International Conference is the annual meeting of LESI and this year about 800 registrants representing more than 45 countries and 180 accompanying persons attended. I must note that the characteristic of this year was the joint meeting between the LESI Conference and the LES (USA & Canada) Spring Meeting. I was told that the last time USA & Canada had an International Conference in its region was in 1991 in San Diego. I have no information how the last time the Conference was administrated, but for the Organizing Committee this time it was a real challenge to assimilate the two different meetings, (international and domestic) under the common theme of “Licensing Without Borders.” I found the Plenary Sessions and workshops were interesting and informative.

The dinner held at the Museum of Science & Industry and Chicago Night Life Dinner & Entertainment were both impressive. Both were not seated-dinners, so it was good for networking among the attendees. From the international perspective, we had a new American style experience at the conference, such as Power Networking, the Tech Fair, Sponsorship, and so on. Probably there will be many comments on this conference to be sent from various attendees, and I am very interested in hearing these comments soon.

I do hope those who attended to the conference have returned home safely with solid satisfaction. I am looking forward to seeing you at the next International Conference in Manila in June, 2009.

March 2008

Winter Meeting Returned to Tokyo after 16 Years

By Chikao Fukuda, President, LES International

The Winter Meeting, its official name (according to our Operations Manual) being the Expanded Board of Directors Meeting, was held in Tokyo on January 25 and 26, 2008. It is a planning meeting of LESI, at which the LESI Board, the national presidents, the committee chairs, past international presidents and special invitees discuss the issues and develop the plans for this year (2007/08). We had 38 attendees and 12 accompanying persons. I selected the venue in Tokyo, Japan, where the late Mrs. Ariga organized the International Conference in 1985 and Mr. Mifune held the winter meeting in 1992. Thus we returned Tokyo 16 years after Mr. Mifune’s meeting.
 
This time, I focused the content of the meeting on the issues relating to the “Operational Committees” in order to clarify our targets for this year. I specifically asked the Communications Committee to report on the status of the LESI web-site and to make specific proposals in order to assure the information on the web is appropriate, accurate and up-to-date. The Committee’s response included drafting checklists for the Board, National Presidents and Committee Chairs together with the Committee’s own responsibilities. Thus we should now work in accordance with our respective checklists to maintain the LESI web-site at a high-standard so that it may serve for use by LES members worldwide, and also by non-members who might be interested in LES in the future.
 
The Long Range Planning Committee divided all the participants into three groups and conducted a two-hours break-out discussion to formulate proposals on various themes. This was very effective in the sense that all the attendees actively participated in the discussions and tried to identify solutions. The planning assumptions were (a) The underlying cause of our decreasing membership trend is a direct result of natural business trends worldwide, (b) LESI may have three years of variable meeting attendance; Philippines, South Africa, Australia, and (c) Knowledge of how individuals, companies and other entities facilitate the transfer of technology, licensing of intellectual property and use intellectual property is available from an increasing number of providers. The outcome of this session is going to be reviewed and analyzed by the Committee and the Board, and will be fed back to the Delegates Meeting in Chicago this May.
 
The Meetings Committee is developing a new model for conducting International Conferences, and a plan was proposed. This will require further amendment of the Meetings Manual. We look forward to continued development of this project in Chicago.
 
The Membership Committee was requested to report on the Business Planning Workshops and the issue of activating stagnating societies. As mentioned in the December issue, I have a concern regarding some of the societies which are not so active, based upon our guidelines, and we should look for some ways to assist them. The Committee will follow up the outcome of the discussion.
 
The Education Committee informed the meeting of the various educational courses available and described its progression models and planned activities for 2008. Since education is a key offering that LESI is able to provide, it is important that the members of each society are kept well-informed about forthcoming educational events, through the web-site, etc.
 
One of the characteristics of this Winter Meeting was that the Asian Pacific Presidents convened to discuss various matters regarding the Asian Pacific region. Six out of the nine presidents in the region had substantial discussions regarding more active communications and cooperation among the presidents and the societies in addition to planning more specific projects.
 
Finally, as the president of LESI, I want to express my sincere thanks to LES Japan for their cooperation and assistance in relation to the Winter Meeting. I would especially like to thank them for organizing an international symposium on the protection of licensees and also the wonderful classic boat dinner with Japanese dishes on Tokyo Bay.

December 2007

Communications and Networking throughout World

By Chikao Fukuda, President, LES International

At the International Delegates Meeting held in Vancouver, Canada, in late October, Ron Grudziecki handed over the gavel to me for the year 2007-2008. Ron and his Board have done a great job in improving the accessibility and visibility of LESI in this past year, including the development of the LESI website and the 2007 CD membership directory, both of which could not have materialized without the valuable contributions of the Communications Committee.

LES Chile, our newest society, received the LES flag in Vancouver, and LESI is now composed of 32 member societies with about 12,000 members worldwide. Since there is practically no way for all the members to get together in one place, it is becoming more important to have effective communication and networking means among LES societies and among individual members. For this purpose, one of my objectives this year is to improve our website with special attention to its contents, regular updates and the accuracy of the information therein. However, such improvement will not be accomplished without having cooperation and assistance from each member society and individual members at large. There are many ways to do this, but effective and punctual communication between LESI (both the Board and the various committees) and representatives of the member societies (at both their board level and international delegates level) is the key to this goal.

Another factor would be that each LESI committee is requested to focus on circulating committee information to the members worldwide through the website. In order to improve the LESI website, please visit it and let us know your suggestions and comments. Around nine months have passed since Stephanie started to work as our membership coordinator, and she would welcome your inputs at ssilverstein@lesi.org. Thus, there are still things to develop in LESI internationally in the coming years, and I will continue to pursue the improvement of accessibility and visibility as achieved by my predecessors Ron and Peter.

Another objective this year is to give attention to small societies, which may need to have assistance from LESI in various respects. As a matter of fact, 85% of all LES members belong to the top ten large societies, which means the remaining 15% or 1800 members belong to the other 22 societies, with an average of 80 members per society. There are three societies which have about 30 – 39 members each. In addition to the size of societies, there is another factor to think about i.e. the  diversity of membership in terms of legal vs. non-legal ratio. I would suggest that each society does its best to recruit more non-legal or business- oriented members, aiming to have 50-50 % ratio as the first step. Speaking from my experience in LES Japan, which has a legal vs. non-legal ratio of 30 : 70, we can undertake more flexible business planning, which benefits its members. For any questions and problems these societies may have, I am happy to discuss these or to visit in person at an appropriate opportunity.

My other objective is to encourage all individual LES members to participate in the activities of LESI, including becoming a member of an LESI committee. I believe it is one of the best means for each member to develop communications and networking with LES members in other business areas or other countries. It is no good merely to remain as a member in a passive way, who only receives “les Nouvelles” from LESI. You can find a suitable committee through exploring the LESI website.

The Winter Meeting for a relatively small number of participants is scheduled late January next year in Tokyo, where the committee chairs, society presidents and board members with other invited LES executives will discuss in an informal atmosphere our plans for the year, and possibly succeeding years.

Our International Conference will be held in Chicago from May 4 to 7, 2008. This is a unique setting, since not only is the LESI Conference customarily held outside USA, but also it is a joint conference with USA/Canada Spring Meeting. The organizing committee of LES USA/Canada, the host society, is preparing an outstanding program and social events. I am sure you will certainly enjoy the Conference next year.