Securing the knowledge

What do the car radio, adhesive tape and the photocopier have in common? All were invented in the years that followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash; proof that innovation can flourish during the direst economic times. The report ‘Building and enforcing intellectual property value’, recently published by Thomson Reuters, shows that patent filings actually boomed during the years of the Great Depression, before returning to less elevated levels during the late 1930s.

All of which is great news for firms with strong intellectual property practices. ‘As far as the downturn is concerned, it’s important for companies with intellectual property to maximise the returns on their IP assets,’ says Mark Hodgson, managing partner of the London office of Howrey, a firm that focuses entirely on IP, antitrust and litigation. ‘It’s important for all companies, but for many it’s absolutely vital.’

This is a sentiment echoed by Tim Powell, co-founder of IP litigation boutique Powell Gilbert. ‘People cannot afford not to protect their IP,’ he says. ‘If you stop doing that, then it’s probably the last thing to go.’

As such, IP appears to be top of everyone’s agenda, particularly at many leading law firms. In fact, it’s been virtually impossible to keep IP lawyers out of the news lately. Last year a number of top US firms ramped up their IP expertise, including Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Covington & Burling; Cooley Godward Kronish; Foley & Lardner; Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel; Kaye Scholer; and Morrison & Foerster. Commenting at the time IP hires swept the US last summer, Ken Adamo, the Jones Day IP veteran, highlighted the current economic situation as a contributing factor to the heightened activity. ‘Companies are more keen than usual to protect their investment and their market share,’ he told LB.

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