BIP Asia has a golden opportunity to become the world’s‘ centre of excellence’ for this business.

1. Giustino de Sanctis is a notable
participant at this year’s Business
of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia), to be
held in December. He is one of the
masterminds behind certain rather
significant joint-licensing programs
in consumer electronics.
He structured and managed the
licensingprogramforAudioMPEG’s
MP3 audio format, often referred to
as one of the most successful efforts
to licence a consumer electronics
innovation. He also launched joint-
licensing programs for 4G LTE and
802.11, better known as Wi-Fi.
Having spent more than two
decades working in licensing, earlier
thisyear,theformerintellectualprop-
erty(IP)lawyerestablishedVectis,an
IPtechnologyandlicensingbusiness.
He is the firm’s chief executive.
Experience, says de Sanctis, has
taught him the importance of sim-
plifyingaccesstoIPrightsforwidely-
adopted, standardized technology.
The aggregation of patents was
one added-value solution for com-
panies working with technology.
“Patent aggregation clearly helps
implementers access relevant IP
while reducing transaction costs for
all parties involved,” he said.
He said Vectis has recently started
working on a Wi-Fi licensing pro-
gram which includes patents origi-
nallyfiledbyEricssonandPanasonic
that are now owned by WiFi One.
“This program runs in the context
of a patent aggregation format and a
great deal of time has been spent to
carefully design a licensing program
whichoffersanon-exclusive,royalty-
bearing license to third parties on
fair, reasonable, and non-discrimi-
natory terms,” he said.
“Efforts are ongoing to further
aggregateandofferlicenseesaneven
greater value.”
“We believe in the value of shar-
ing innovation. This simple, yet very
powerful statement, distinguishes
us from the traditional IP-based
licensing models that focus on the
monetization of IP,” said de Sanctis,
adding: “Vectis was founded on the
beliefthatinnovationrepresentsone
ofthecorevaluesandtruepotentials
of our economy and that sharing of
innovation and sharing of the costs
of innovation are both essential for
the technology’s continued advance-
ment.”
“Weareworkingtoconnectpatent
owners with product makers, forg-
ing long-lasting, mutually beneficial
collaborations, and bringing added
value to every party involved in the
process,” he said.
“Throughout this process we con-
tinuetoworkwithlicenseesforlicen-
sors,andwithlicensorsforlicensees,
and to design balanced programmes
with the right terms for the specific
marketaddressedtothatspecificIP.”
When it comes to the key issue
in IP-licensing strategies in technol-
ogy, de Sanctis says a complex global
market and a switched-on world
means there is an increasing com-
plexityvis-a-vistherightsacompany
has to acquire, to design and sell a
product or service.
“Some have referred to this phe-
nomenon as a ‘patent thicket’, high-
lighting the difficulties of obtaining
the necessary licenses and putting a
negative spin on it,” he said.
“The reality is that products today
are extremely rich in technology and
as a consequence the technology uti-
lized is covered by many patents.
“There is a real need for a new
approach to address this complex-
ity. For me, the particular issues that
need to be confronted are lack of
clarity, fragmentation, and often,
absence of transparency or asym-
metric information sharing in the
IP-licensing industry.”
The future of IP licensing, says de
Sanctis, lies in the industry recognis-
ing that the benefits and the costs of
innovation have to be shared.
“We have to take a step back and
not just focus on IP, but rather on
the technology itself and also on the
processes that regulate the commer-
cial success of the technology in the
market,” he said.
“The key is to design the pro-
gramme with a ‘technology transfer’
program, rather than exclusively as
an IP-licensing program.”
Himself the inventor of a patent
on how to allocate revenue among
different patent owners in joint-
licensing deals, de Sanctis is mod-
erating one of the plenary sessions
at this year’s BIP Asia on the theme
of Global Trends for IP-Licensing
Strategies.
Vectis is the gold sponsor of BIP
Asia, to be held from December 3 to
4 at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre.
BIP Asia — jointly organised by
the Hong Kong SAR Government,
Hong Kong Trade Development
Council and Hong Kong Design
Centre — will see IP professionals
and leaders from around the world
gather in Hong Kong to discuss key
IP issues and trends.
Hong Kong’s position as the busi-
ness hub of Asia, said de Sanctis,
made it an ideal focal point for IP
professionalstomeetandhelpfacili-
tate the discussion among key stake-
holders to find balance in licensing
solutions.
“BIP Asia has a golden opportu-
nity to become the world’s ‘center of
excellence’ for thisbusiness,” he said.
“This best practice or ‘center of
excellence’ platform can only be a
positive move for Hong Kong and
the whole of the region with respect
to the business of IP licensing and
trade.”
“Knowledge-based capital is
the cornerstone of technological
advancement. When handled fairly
and shared equally, the whole of
this dynamic region will benefit eco-
nomically.”
Sharing the cost of innovation
VETERAN IPEXPERTSAYS NEWLICENSING MODELIS NEEDEDASTECHNOLOGYPATENTS BECOME MORE COMPLEX
BIP Asia has a golden
opportunity to become
the world’s ‘center of
excellence’ for
this business.
GIUSTINO DE SANCTIS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFVECTIS
Giustino de Sanctis, CEO of IP technology and licensing company Vectis, believes in the value of sharing innovation as it
distinguishes them from the traditional IP-based licensing models.
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