Registration Opens for WIPO’s Executive Program on Strategic Intellectual Property Finance

Geneva, July 30, 2007
PR/2007/504

Finance executives, managers and analysts can, from August 1, 2007, register on-line at www.wipo.int/academy/en/execed to participate in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Executive Program on Strategic Intellectual Property (IP) Finance, which will be held at WIPO headquarters, in Geneva, from November 12 to 15, 2007.

Intangibles, including IP, are strategically important corporate assets and critical value drivers in today’s knowledge economy.  While estimates vary, the proportion of corporate value associated with intangibles is widely considered to be over fifty per cent of a company’s value. In view of the growing importance of intangible assets, all executives, managers and finance professionals stand to benefit from a practical understanding of IP and its potential contribution to a firm’s bottom line. Effective use of IP as a business and financial asset is one of the keys to enduring competitive advantage and enhanced shareholder value.

A knowledge of IP finance is of great benefit in the successful valuation and accounting of a firm’s intangible assets, in the optimal allocation of corporate resources, in minimizing risks, in IP securitization and in sustaining investor confidence. The WIPO Executive Program on IP Finance teaches essential concepts and examines recent developments in this rapidly evolving and complex field. Eminent academics and leading executives from leading business schools, corporations and financial institutions will reveal unique insights, unveil practical tools and share their wealth of experience using a combination of lectures, case studies, practical exercises and group discussions.

Faculty members include:

• Mrs. Béatrix de Russé who has been in charge of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Thomson for the past 14 years. As an Executive Vice President, heading a team of more than 200 IP professionals, including patent attorneys and licensing negotiators located in Europe, USA and Asia, she manages a portfolio of more than 50,000 patents and patent applications. Her activity is key to the financial results of the Company, ensuring a yearly income of several hundreds of millions of Euros from the licensing of Thomson’s patent portfolio.
• Mr. Tony Hadjiloucas, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, London, who specializes in providing valuation and royalty rate determination advice in connection with patents, brands and branded businesses, know-how, software, trade secrets and other intangible assets for commercial, litigation and financial reporting purposes. He will examine ways of using brand identity to reinforce market value.
• Mr. Baruch Lev, director of the Institute of Accounting Research and Professor of Accounting and Finance at New York University Stern School of Business.  Prof. Lev teaches courses in accounting and financial analysis. His primary research areas include corporate governance; financial accounting; financial statement analysis; intangible assets/intellectual capital; capital markets; and mergers and acquisitions. Prof. Baruch Lev is the author of several books including “Intangibles: Management, Measurement, and Reporting”, and has published numerous articles in research publications
• Mr. Patrick Sullivan, founder and CEO of ICMG, a consulting company focusing on extracting value from intellectual capital. He is co-founder and co-facilitator of the ICM Gathering and the IP Forum, comprising managers of intellectual property (IP) and other intangibles from companies sophisticated in creating and extracting value from their intangibles. Mr. Sullivan has pioneered the development of new and practical methods for measuring, valuing and managing intellectual property and other intangibles and has written a large number of articles and books, including “Einstein in the Boardroom”.
• Senior executives from WIPO and leading personalities from the world of finance will share their insights and experiences on recent developments in the field of international IP management and finance.

The course will cover the following themes:

• Overview of corporate finance
• Creating and extracting value from IP
• IP Licensing IP audit and valuation
• Measuring IP and other intangibles
• Recent developments on accounting for intangibles 
• Reflecting IP in financial statements 
• Taxation of IP development, acquisition and transfers
• Securitization of IP and raising finance
• Best practices on IP disclosure

For full course details and to register for the course, please go to www.wipo.int/academy/en/execed or contact the WIPO Worldwide Academy directly at 34, Chemin des Colombettes, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Tel: (41-22) 338 9111; Fax: (41-22) 740 1417; E-mail: execed.academy@wipo.int.