SINGAPORE, 03 OCTOBER 2008 - Asia Pacific inventors are set to benefit from the establishment, in Singapore, of the Asian headquarters of Intellectual Ventures (IV), an established US firm that partners with scientists, researchers and technologists to help them realize the full potential of their ideas.
IV is a privately owned invention investment company and one of the world’s top 50 companies that files patents. It creates, acquires and licences invention in areas such as hardware, software, consumer electronics, nanotechnology, digital imaging, medical devices and energy.
IV activities in Asia would include invention contests and IV-hosted innovation brainstorming sessions, as well as a commitment from the firm to cover the costs associated with acquiring, maintaining and licensing inventions it has accepted into its portfolio.
The company plans to roll out its programs among select inventors, local universities, research institutes and venture companies. They anticipate working with local inventors in molecular engineering, biotechnology, green-tech, software and many others.
A global IP hub
In addition to establishing its regional headquarters in Singapore, IV will open new offices in Japan (Tokyo), India (Bangalore), China (Beijing) and South Korea (Seoul).
Speaking at the Fullerton Hotel launch, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, S.Iswaran, said that Singapore aimed to be “a global hub for the commercialization of intellectual property”.
“In the last five years, we have consistently been ranked top in Asia in terms of IPT protection and enforcement,” the Minister said. “Last year we were ranked second in the world in the World Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute of Management Development.
“The hope is that IV will build a team of more than 20 professionals in Singapore to primarily help inventors in Asia commercialise their ideas. This will undoubtedly build new capabilities and give a strong boost to innovation and the IP commercialization landscape in Singapore and the region. By shortening te time to market and economic returns on investments in R&D, the work of IV will help spur further innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Former Microsoft professionals
The company’s founders, CEO Dr Nathan Myhrvold, and CTO Edward Jung, both formerly worked with the Microsoft Corporation.
Jung, who is also a strategic adviser to the Harvard Medical School, and an avid inventor who holds more than 70 patents, said there was a strong need for IV in the Asia Pacific region.
“Despite the growing numbers of leading scientists, researchers, technologist and other inventors in Asia, many of these inventors lacked access to the appropriate resources to bring their ideas to a larger global audience,” Jung said. “I am struck by the gap between Asia’s collective, innovative talent and the lack of resources for Asia’s greats inventors. IV is working to fill this gap.”
At the company’s Singapore launch, Dr Myhrvold said that the firm had already helped develop some 2,000 inventions annually in Asia “about the same as an Intel or Microsoft”.
“Innovation is critical for economic growth and we expect the 21st century to be a golden age of inventing,” Dr Myhrvold said. “We have done more than 100 deals with universities, mostly in Europe, but some in Singapore and Asia.”
