Media reviews of Intellectual Property

The workshop given by John Mc Manus yesterday, organised by IRDG, was a great success. Interested in buying a copy of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY for yourself? Then read on for some insightful reviews:

You’ve got a great idea – but how do you develop it while making sure it remains your property? John P Mc Manus’s Intellectual Property provides groundwork on how to commercialise your ideas.

This is a solid, workmanlike guide that will give readers a basic understanding of how intellectual property works, with some interesting case studies: Dunnes Stores vs Karen Millen, Monsanto vs Cargill, Ethicon vs United States Surgical Corp.

Mc Manus explains how a researcher’s idea becomes a commercial property, and step-by-step, how patents are searched to find that it is truly original, and then how a patent is planned and lodged. In this very technical book, he goes through all aspects of the process, from scientific research in universities – and the conflicts of interest that can arise when these results are patented – to how intellectual property is valued, and how this value is realised in commercialisation. It goes wider, with guides to protecting IP, assessing the most appropriate route to market and presenting your business case to investors.

Intellectual Property is in no way a light read, but it is a useful book for anyone with an original idea to patent, own and develop as a commercial reality.

Lucille Redmond, The Market

Irish start-ups involved in developing new technologies must protect their intellectual property (IP), according to Dr John P Mc Manus, IP specialist and author of Intellectual Property: From Creation to Commercialisation.

Failure to devise an IP strategy can cost firms money in the long term, he said.

Any firms seeking investment through the Government or banks, particularly in the technology sector, must had an IP strategy in place, added Mc Manus.

He has noticed a bigger interest from Irish start-ups in filing IP protection in the past 10 years.

“Nobody knew what IP protection was 10 years ago. Now, when I mention the word people have heard about it and want to know about it. More SMEs are attending training courses and know they have to get up to speed on IP,” said Mc Manus.

IP covers the areas of copyright, patents, trademarks and design protection. The Irish Patents Office deals with registration of patents, trademarks and designs in Ireland.

As part of their IP strategy, firms must decide which countries in which to register their IP.

“You need to establish where you will be active, and have your IP protected in those markets,” said Mc Manus.

“Companies have to make a business decision: if you’re not making as much money out of the product as you are spending on protecting it, then it may not be worth protecting it.” 

The Irish Independent