Posted by Bennie Haasbroek on April 13, 2000 at 10:57:28:

In Reply to: Re: Intellectual Property Rights vs. KM posted by Rachel Cook on April 13, 2000 at 06:22:50:

Wheeww...I thought I had double vision there for a second.

Yeah. I find this extremely difficult, and would like to hear more about what you've done. But I'll start off with my sharing first.

I'ts true that the person whom you are sharing with and the type of knowledge that you are sharing have to be considered when looking at IP.

We still have many old-timers here with us that refuses to share any knowledge because they connect their job security to it. Intuitively I realised that this is wrong, but I didn't understand that they thought I wanted to place all our info in the Internet for anybody to take for using. That's not at all the idea.

Sharing inside an organisation (especially a relaively large one like ours) can also prove to have it's problems. The different divisions are under tremendous pressure to perform, and therefore in the past many copyright enfringements have taken place under the flag of being the same company.

This is a big no-no and people are, as a result of it, very reluctant to make what they know public.

The problem with protecting IP is that it always takes so long. Licencing and patent rights are a slow and tedious process, and we even started a simbiotic relationship with a company that focusses on our (and other) patent rights.

But to complicate things even more, the rules and regulations to follow so as to ensure that you do not endanger your patent rights by sharing with people are also extensive.

We've done many technological exepriment on how to start sharing and capturing our knowledge, it we've reached the stage now where we can't really go ahead without drawing up an IP Strategy. We first need to look on how to Protect, before we can share.

The knowlegde economy works on the same principles as any other economy. Supply and demand rules and if you ensure that your research (or knowledge) stays relevant, and you start building it up, your supply potential increases. Then you need to protect (monopoly) the "supplies" in some way not to flood the marke. At the same time you have to let go soem of your "supplies" bit by bit (possibly giving it away for free) so that the clients start realising the potential of your supplies and the demand start growing.

Thus, there is a definite need for this type of knowledge potential: like a cell that has a impermeable membrane and only lets certain thing through and the potential gradient over the wall of the cell makes for the active transport of substances (knowledge) trhough it, from a high concentration to a low concentration.

How to create this "membrane" is another story...

My 2c.

Please reply

Thanks
Bennie

• My Work

---

Follow Ups:

• Re: Intellectual Property Rights vs. KM Rachel Cook 11:41:43 06/02/00 (1)
  • Re: sharing externally Ron dW 18:28:07 06/08/00 (0)
• PS on IP Rights vs. KM Bennie Haasbroek 11:49:27 04/13/00 (0)

---

Click Here to Post Follow Up in New Forums

    Knowledge Management Think Tank (New)

  

 Subject: 

Message: