I joined a WeChat group called "IP Industry Chain" by chance, but found in it many of my colleagues from the IP community unexpectedly. Moreover, there is no vacancy in the large group of 500 people. While shocked once again by the power of WeChat, I was more interested in the new concept of "IP industry chain". For quite a few days, I have been trying to understand the status quo and future of IP industry from the perspective of industry chain.
When putting together the two key words "intellectual property" and "industry chain", we will come up to two different ways of thinking. First of all, for most corporate IP managers, it is a necessary foundation to analyze and clarify the structure and value of the industry chain so as to achieve effective acquisition, protection, layout, operation and management of intellectual property. It has become a method widely applied in current corporate IP management practices to use the thinking of industry chain in guiding specific work. Secondly, the two key words should bring us more enlightenment in IP service industry. It might be the most effective way to promote industrial innovation and development if we adopt the thinking of industry chain when analyzing IP service industry.
Analysis on industry chain generally requires clarifying the basic status of the entire industry both in structure and value. If many broken links are found in the structure analysis, it indicates that development level of the industry is still low.
The low level of development may be caused by lack of demand or unsatisfying demand. If the needs are not met, it would mean a huge number of business opportunities. If the value distribution is found to be too concentrated via value analysis, we should be wary of overcapacity and vicious competition in case that the demand growth is not sustained.
It is not difficult to find a number of breakpoints in IP service industry chain after brief analysis. There is a lack of effective links for trading, transfer, transformation and other aspects. The industry value is more concentrated in IP agency and litigation. At the meantime, service for information query shows the trends of overcapacity and low-price competition. To conclude, China's IP service industry needs to be integrated, optimized and upgraded. But how can we achieve more scientific and effective integration, optimization and upgrade? It might be the first step and also the most important step if we can fully and accurately describe the structure and value distribution in the industry chain for the entire IP service industry.
