Thank you for your interest in Executive Education at Harvard Business School. The Intellectual Property and Business Strategy program is no longer offered on the HBS Campus. You may wish to consider the Intellectual Property Strategy course offered in London, England. For quick reference to the most current program information, you may wish to bookmark this page.
For a complete list of the most current HBS Executive Education programs, please bookmark the program finder.
You also may contact our client service specialists at 1-800-427-5577 (outside the U.S., dial +1-617-495-6555) or at executive_education@hbs.edu.
Managing intellectual property (IP) rights is of first-order importance in many organizations. To set the right strategic direction, senior executives must have an in-depth understanding of the tools and techniques that enable companies to protect their innovative products, creative works, designs, and brands. This unique program brings together leading faculty from Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Law School (HLS) to discuss how IP law has evolved in recent years, where critical international differences persist, and how managers and legal counsel can exploit evolving IP regimes to better protect company assets. The program will emphasize the benefits of tightly integrating your company's approach to IP with broader strategic considerations. In many companies, managing IP rights is seen as a complex technical task that is best left to legal experts. By contrast, this program provides an approach to systematically integrating legal and strategic considerations, showing how a combination of the two perspectives can unlock additional value. In collaboration with the Program on Negotiation at HLS, participants will have an opportunity to participate in a complex IP negotiation exercise. Participating in a multi-faceted curriculum you will learn to sharpen your negotiating skills and explore ways to capture the extra value that a tighter integration of IP management and strategy promises to deliver.
In a group of experienced executives from a diverse set of industries and geographies, you will examine U.S. and international patent, copyright, and trademark laws, emphasizing how fundamental ideas have evolved in recent years. Equipped with a firm grasp of the legal landscape, you will then explore ways to integrate your company's IP management with broader strategic goals.
You will rely on case studies, interactive lectures, and a hands-on negotiation exercise to discuss effective ways to manage IP and support your company's strategic goals.
This program is designed for senior executives with a management or legal background. The program topics are particularly relevant for legal counsel responsible for IP management and executives who set strategic direction for their companies. To encourage organization-wide impact, admission preference is given to executive teams composed of four to eight individuals.