Asharqia Chamber and LES-AC Organize ?Managing IP in an Open Innovation Environment? Workshop

DAMMAM --- April 18, 2009 --- The Licensing Executives Society ?Arab Countries (LES-AC) in cooperation with Asharqia Chamber organized ?Managing Intellectual Property (IP) in an Open Innovation Environment? workshop on April 18, 2009 at the Chamber?s premises in Dammam City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
?This event is the beginning of cooperation between the Society and the Chamber in order to raise awareness about the economic importance of licensing, technology transfer, and the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs),? Ms. Renad Al Noubani , LES-AC manager said.
The workshop focused on improving the quality of both IP management and open innovation initiatives with a particular concentration on the overlap and synergy that can be obtained when done thoughtfully.

The main speaker at the workshop was Dr. Paul Germeraad, president of Intellectual Assets Inc., who discussed case studies and practical examples that provided the attendees with detailed insight on how to proceed and what pitfalls to avoid.
Dr. Germeraad discussed the following issues; how managing IP and conducting open innovation are inter-related; the steps of finding and integrating open innovation technology with the help of IP databases to increase the quality of projects and decrease access time to market, how the geographic distribution of IP enables businesses to develop and first commercialize their products.

The workshop was attended by about 60 CEOs, general managers, business development specialists, and R&D experts, from different Saudi industrial companies.
On the other hand, LES-AC had launched the Intellectual Assets Management Program; the ?Arab Certified IP Licensing Practitioner (ACIPLP)? in 2007, a professional qualification program developed by the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) specialists in the field of licensing. Meanwhile, members of the Licensing Executives Society-Arab Countries reviewed and translated the material of the Program to be consistent with the Arab countries? laws.
?The Program is designed to be the basis for a successful career in the field of licensing and technology transfer,? Ms. Al Noubani explained.
?ACIPLP program targets individuals working and interested in IP management, licensing; in addition to investors, financial consultants, lawyers and managers in all fields of industry,? she added.

It is worth mentioning that the ACIPP program will be conducted in KSA in cooperation with the Asharqia Chamber in October 2009. The LES-AC is the regional representative of the LESI, a non-profit society that is concerned with developing and educating the business community on the economic importance of licensing, IPRs protection, technology transfer and encouraging investment in research and development. Another objective of the Society is to develop the capacity of the business community on IP licensing to assist in the economic development of the Arab countries.