An Exciting Time in the IP World

By Erich Andersen, Corporate Vice President and Chief IP Counsel, Microsoft

Erich Andersen, Corporate Vice President and Chief IP Counsel, Microsoft

In the light of your experience, what are the technological trends and challenges you’ve witnessed happening with respect to the IP Design?

The IP community is in the early stages of a digital transformation, moving key technology assets from proprietary data centers to the cloud and starting to experiment with AI techniques. At Microsoft, we’ve been fully participating in this trend. Over the last three years, we’ve changed our primary toolset for portfolio management to one that runs on our Azure cloud service, saving us millions of dollars and enabling us to more effectively collaborate with outside counsel and vendors. We are also collaborating with other companies and organizations across technical boundaries and starting to consider how we can apply our big data learnings to derive insights and improve efficiency. It’s an exciting time to be in the IP world if you like technology and are looking for ways to be more agile!

Could you talk about your approach to identifying the right partnership/ solutions providers from the lot?

We get approached by a lot of solution providers. Many seem to believe that we are in a perpetual state of reevaluating our solutions, when the truth is that we only do this periodically. We would be working in a state of chaos if we constantly reevaluated the partnerships we have in place and the tools we use. That is why we often say “no” even without evaluating a potential offer –because we are simply not looking.

"It’s an exciting time to be in the IP world if you like technology and are looking for ways to be more agile!”

In general, when evaluating potential solutions and relationships, we are looking for the whole package–we want a partner that has built an excellent tool and process that has stood up over time and has a deep fan base. We want modern solutions that take advantage of new technical capabilities and work with our systems. We want solutions that are scalable, secure and interoperable. Finally, we want solutions that are cost effective and predictable in terms of the fees that are charged. Since we work in many languages and have employees with accessibility needs, we want to ensure that these priorities are addressed as well.

Could you elaborate on some interesting and impactful project/initiatives that you’re currently overseeing?

A big initiative we launched this year is a program called Azure IP Advantage, which is designed to help customers of Microsoft who use our Azure cloud service manage their IP risk. The growth of cloud has created an attractive target for NPEs. An analysis by the Boston Consulting group found that there has been a 22 percent rise in cloud-based litigation in the US over last five years. After listening to customer concerns about this rising trend, we introduced Azure IP Advantage to help protect customers from IP risks in the cloud so they can run their business, or build new apps, without needing to worry about baseless patent lawsuits. There are three key benefits:

Our best-in-industry intellectual property protection with uncapped indemnification coverage now also covers any open source technology that powers Microsoft Azure services.

We’ve made 10,000 Microsoft patents available to Azure customers so they can better defend themselves against patent lawsuits.

Also, largely as a formality, we pledge to Azure customers that if we transfer patents to NPEs these patents cannot be asserted against them in the future.

With our recent launch of the program in China, Azure IP Advantage is now available world-wide to help customers scale their businesses globally without worrying about IP risk. Azure IP Advantage offering is unmatched among other cloud service providers. It’s an important reason for customers to choose Azure as their preferred cloud platform!

Another exciting initiative this year is our Connected Car Licensing Program, which we launched alongside an inaugural partnership with Toyota. Microsoft has a long history of working with our automotive partners to deliver great products and services. When you look across telematics, infotainment, safety and other systems in today’s connected cars; you find Microsoft technologies and innovation. Besides Toyota, our Azure service is used by Renault/Nissan and Indian ride sharing company Ola among others and is rapidly becoming the leading cloud platform for the auto industry. Our huge investments in R&D are helping to create the intelligent apps and automotive technologies of the future, and we’re excited to help drive digital transformation in connected cars.

What are some of the points of discussion that go on in your leadership panel with regards to IP Design?

We’re a large company in an industry where IP is central, so our discussions range across a broad landscape of topics. We’re obviously very focused on continuing to grow and develop our industry-leading patent portfolio. We also have a number of outbound licensing programs and we’re constantly assessing opportunities presented to us. We pay attention to proposed legislation, standards and important cases and will add our voice to discussions of such matters as appropriate.

Can you draw an analogy between your personality traits, hobbies and how they reflect on your leadership strategy?

We’ve had a lot of discussion about leadership traits in our company over the last couple of years. What we really value at Microsoft is leaders who bring clarity to our often-complex set of issues, generate a sense of energy for the team and maintain a positive attitude even when times are tough. That is what I aspire to do in my role.

How do you see the evolution of intellectual property design a few years from now with regard to some of its potential disruptions and transformations?

As businesses undergo digital transformation, it’s no surprise that the IP business will also need to adapt to new circumstances. For example, it’s no secret that traditional licensing business models have become more challenging in the United States over the past few years. On the other hand, we’re seeing changes in China as it becomes the world leader in patent filings and a place where there is a growing docket of patent litigation matters. Europe remains a stable and important region for IP as well. As we learn to adapt to change like everyone else, Microsoft is focusing on some key principles: We have a world-class, organically-grown portfolio that is the product of billions of dollars of R&D investment in technology areas that are incredibly relevant to today’s marketplace where digital transformation is such a powerful trend across industries. We also have a top team of professionals who know how to get things done in creative new ways. We embrace the changes and don’t view them as disruptive so much as a set of new constraints and opportunities that it is our job to understand and navigate.

What would be the single piece of advice that you could impart to a fellow IP specialist that looks to embark on a similar venture or professional journey along the lines of your service and solutions?

Be creative, flexible, and forward thinking when considering your IP approach, while ensuring that you have a thoughtful strategy to manage IP risk as the IP landscape changes and you ride the digital transformation wave.