Why Procurement of Intellectual Property Is Tricky…Until you Read This

Insights from my years of working with Intellectual Property

My first couple of years in Procurement were spent in scientific organisations in the defence space, where I procured a lot of research. In other words, I was buying the intellectual property, or a right to use, the outcomes of research activities. I also dealt with Universities where we would fund Ph. D.s, get access, and use their results.

Sounds weird compared to a lot of traditional procurement out there, but coupled this with my contract knowledge and the couple of months I spent working in the Intellectual Property Team with some incredible patent attorneys means I know a little bit about the procurement of ideas. Additionally, many of you likely have procured Intellectual Property when procuring consultancy services, contingent labour, software development, or any analysis work.

My old notebook (some of these notes are from 2017) is full of my thoughts about the process, mapping out approaches, and the constant mention of the need to update spreadsheets (so gross).

Anyway, more about how this information is priceless to me in another piece. Let’s talk about Intellectual Property.