Andrew J. Sherman - Harvesting Intangible Assets: Uncover Hidden Revenue in Your Companys Intellectual Property

More Advance Praise forHarvesting Intangible Assets

A thorough and insightful look back to the future. Andrew J. Sherman has given American business a systematic framework to recapture the innovative and creative energy that built this country. The strength of our nations future depends on embracing the key principles of Harvesting Intangible Assets.

Donna Ettenson, Vice President of Operations, Association of Small Business Development Centers

Growth guru and thought leader Andrew J. Sherman practices what he preaches. When writing Harvesting Intangible Assets, he fully leveraged his most valuable intangible assetshis formidable intellect, unrelenting curiosity, and lifetime of diverse business and legal experiencesto deliver a comprehensive, practical road map for business success in our hyper-competitive global markets.

Hugh Courtney, Vice Dean, University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business

Sherman has laid out a comprehensive road map for harvesting the single most important resource in most companies and countriesits intellectual property. This is a must-read book for every business leader and policy maker.

Verne Harnish, CEO of Gazelles; Founder of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO); and author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits

Andrew J. Shermans Harvesting Intangible Assets is a cleverly written guide to uncovering hidden revenue in your companys intellectual property that I found especially profound. This book gives you the tools to uncover your creativity and harvest new ideas, strategies, and best practices to ensure success, and Andrew shares his insights in a way that only he canwith humor and style that keeps you wanting more. I highly recommend this read.

Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA, NACVAs Chief Executive Officer

It is rare that you can find everything you want to know about a topic in one place. But if you are looking for the definitive work on all the myriad ways an organization can capitalize on its intellectual property and assets, this is it. Harvesting Intangible Assets should be required reading for every CEO.

Robert A. Strade, Executive Director and CEO, Entrepreneurs Organization (EO)

Intellectual capital is probably the most underutilized resource in most organizations. While many of them spend millions for patents, copyrights, and trade secrets to lock this resource away until its shelf life is expired, Andrew J. Sherman encourages us to seed, greenhouse, grow, mature, and harvest intellectual capital instead. The book is full of practical concepts and insightful examples of companies leading the way to seed ideas to harvest sustainable innovation. Im sure that this book will be the new Farmers Almanac for the reader on his journey to become an intellectual capital agrarian of the 21st century.

Dr. Oliver Schlake, Ralph J. Tyser Teaching Fellow and Senior Executive Education Fellow, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Andrew J. Sherman makes a compelling case for assessing, managing, and maximizing intellectual capital, which shouldyet often doesntaccount for such a large portion of a companys true value. An enjoyable and important book to be read by todays corporate executives, who should be carefully managing their crop of intellectual capital.

Dave Groobert, U.S. General Manager, Environics Public Relations

In his trenchant new book Harvesting Intangible Assets, author, lawyer, and thought leader Andrew J. Sherman reveals for the first time not just how to identify these hidden tools, but also how to fuse them with the specific actions that create competitive advantage. No other work so cogently clarifies the least understood but most valuable aspects of our organizations.

T.D. Klein, investor and author of Built for Change: Essential Traits of Transformative Companies

Global thought leader Andrew J. Sherman provides a fresh perspective and looks at intellectual property in a whole new light. Shermans great new book points out the subtleties of hidden assets and innovation, which could make a world of difference in the life of any company, economy, and society.

Sarah Djamshidi, Executive Director, Chesapeake Innovation Center (CIC); President, Maryland Business Incubation

UNCOVER HIDDEN REVENUE IN YOUR COMPANYS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

ANDREW J. SHERMAN

Special discounts on bulk quantities of AMACOM books are available to corporations, professional associations, and other organizations. For details, contact Special Sales Department, AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Tel.: 212-903-8316. Fax: 212-903-8083.
Web site: www.amacombooks.org

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Many of the names of the companies mentioned in this book are also their globally registered trademarks and servicemarks which should always be respected and shown with an symbol.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sherman, Andrew J.

Harvesting intangible assets : uncover hidden revenue in your companys intellectual property / Andrew J. Sherman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1699-0

ISBN-10: 0-8144-1699-3

1. Intellectual capital. 2. Knowledge management. I. Title.
HD53.S495 2011
658.4038dc22

2011013154

2012 Andrew J. Sherman.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.

This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

About AMA

American Management Association ( www.amanet.org ) is a world leader in talent development, advancing the skills of individuals to drive business success. Our mission is to support the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including classroom and virtual seminars, webcasts, webinars, podcasts, conferences, corporate and government solutions, business books and research. AMAs approach to improving performance combines experiential learninglearning through doingwith opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of ones career journey.

Printing number

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

There would be no advantage to be gained by sowing a field of wheat if the harvest did not return more than was sown.

N APOLEON H ILL

My fathers father, Morris Sherman, was a farmer in upstate New York in the 1930s and 1940s. When health complications arose in the 1950s that prevented him from working the land, he took inventory of his intellectual assets, which included deep knowledge of the regional farming community and strong and respected relationships with other farmers. He then shifted his business model to leverage these assets and refocused his attention on the familys farm equipment dealership, which grew each year for many moons until it was sold at a healthy profit.