One of the most quoted examples in IP circles is the story of The Dow Chemical Company. In 1992, Dow conducted an audit of its 30,000 patents. Based on the results of the audit, subsequent business decisions produced more than US$100 million in revenue and savings of more than US$50 million. The person who led this exercise was Gordon Petrash. Hence, it was a real privelege to have him in Malaysia this past week.It was 2 years ago when I first made contact with Gordon via email and it’s almost like a dream to finally meet him in person. We have been bandying around the term “Intellectual Asset Management” and now we finally meet the person who coined it while he was at Dow.
Nothing substitutes the wealth of experience one posesses and Gordon carries with him years not only at Dow but also at Delphion and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Therefore, it was a real privilege to have been able to spend a week with him.
2 things struck me about Gordon. Firstly, he is very passionate about his field. There was a real chemistry between him and Mindvault as similarly, we are not just running a business but are truly passionate about the IP field. Secondly, Gordon came across as having a “father’s heart”. I sensed that he was more than willing to mentor us and share his knowledge with the goal of leaving a legacy behind. Perhaps this has a lot to do with the fact that he has 7 grandchildren!
It is our dream that Mindvault’s collaboration with PetrashWilliamson will produce significant development of the IP landscape in Malaysia. It is often said that Malaysia is 5 years behind the West and is always playing “catch up”. Well, now, we have access to the best practice tools and methodologies in the field of Intellectual Asset Management in the US.
I hope corporate Malaysia truly appreciates this opportunity and takes full advantage of it.
Posted by: David Oh on 10/9/2005 5:45:10 PM