I am no expert in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War but I find Chapter 5 (English and Chinese versions) interesting. For example (emphasis added),
- 5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
- 6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.
As Sun Microsystems‘ General Counsel, my blog friend Mike Dillon’s (here is my interview with Mike) latest blog entry “The Patent Arms Race” lays out some of Sun’s latest thinking in IP and patent strategy which I find fascinating and very sensible.
Following is an excerpt from Mike’s “The Patent Arms Race” (emphasis added),
To some degree, this topic has a very Cold War feel to it with companies growing patent stockpiles to use if attacked or as a form of “mutual deterrence”. But, at some point, a company needs to ask how many patents it really needs. And, that’s exactly what we did about three years ago. Up to that time Sun was filing well over 1,000 patent applications per year. But, in 2005, we made the decision to reduce our patent filings to the point that we had about 700 patents issued last year.
I love Mike’s and Jonathan’s frankness and desire to keep Sun as transparent as they can. I hope more companies will follow Sun’s examples.
P.S. Check out some of these links Mike provided in his article,
- IBM hopes to patent ‘dealing with chaos’
- a Live IP auction at IP Business Congress (June 25/26, 2008) - highly recommended - check out some of the 65 lots of IP assets. Wow.
- reconsidering patentability of business methods
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