Abstract

The mouse and graphic interface were first commercialized on Macintosh computers. Yet, Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history."

Preferring to be more akin to Apple than to Xerox, firms are increasingly mindful that their most valuable assets are apt to be ideas and information instead of land, buildings and inventory. Not capable of being fenced in or locked up, intangible assets can be protected when they are converted into patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets -- collectively intellectual property (IP).

Publication Date

5-28-2002

Journal Title

Corporate Counsel's Quarterly

Document Type

Article

Rights

PDF created from the author's home page on the Pierce Law Center website. Includes the notice: "Copyright Franklin Pierce Law Center 2002. Al rights reserved."

Additional Information

This article appeared under the title "The Need to Convert Intellectual Assets into Property" in the October 2002 issue of Corporate Counsel's Quarterly, at 73. The author thanks Nermian Al-Ali for help with an earlier draft of the paper.

The website version of the article was also made available as Paper 40 in the Pierce Law Faculty Scholarship Series by NELLCO (nellco.org).

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