LES Standards Membership

LES STANDARDS MEMBERSHIP Provide Thought Leadership to Evolve the Practice of IP Management Standards make deals happen by establishing how we can better work together-with our businesses, our countries, our economies, our industries and our products. “The [LES IP] Standards Initiative is the single most important thing happening in IP.�

Hon. Paul R. Michel (Ret.) Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

The Purpose of LES Standards Initiative M ake good IP management and IP transaction practice more understandable and accessible to the enterprise  I mprove the practice of IP management and, by doing so, enhance shareholder value, establish safe-harbors and mitigate litigation risks R educe the cost and time required to do IP-oriented transactions and IP management  P rotect and preserve the value of IP for innovative individuals and enterprises  E ncourage investment in innovation and enhance the economic well-being of society

Areas of Standards Development Eight standards sub-committees have been established, creating working groups, to draft standards in the following areas: ISO/TC 279 Innovation Management A dvancing best practices in innovation management and ensuring coherence and alignment with existing management process standards IP Protection in the Supply Chain  P roviding a management system approach and controls for organizations to augment the typical legal means used today for protecting IP between organizations FRAND Licensing C reating an industry-wide, business process standard for businesses and professionals engaged in licensing standard essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, thereby reducing transaction costs and management expenses

IP Licensing D eveloping a standard for parties’ interactions in licensing intellectual property, thereby enhancing efficiency and trust and reducing the need for additional litigation and legislation and regulation in this field IP Management for Startups  Developing a standard that is intended to enhance the value of early stage enterprises (at funding and at exit), reduce IP risk, and reduce costs for entities that adopt and practice the standard in connection with securing and protecting their intellectual assets

Intangible Assets in the Boardroom  Creating a standard for boards of directors to enhance value and mitigate risk associated with intangible assets

IP Valuation  Providing a multi-tiered, scenario-based standard for selecting and applying IP valuation approaches for a wide variety of situations

IP Brokerage C reating transaction-centered business process requirements for agents, buyers, and sellers of IP assets

JOIN TODAY www.lesusacanada.org/LESStandards Call: 703.234.4058 For more information email: standards@les.org

Be PART of the PROCESS of CREATING these CRITICAL STANDARDS There are two ways that you can get involved:

1 Enterprise Membership: Enterprise Membership allows multiple participants from your organization (e.g. company, government agency, university) to participate on the LES standards development committees and create the draft standards. $500 per organization* annually

2 Consensus Standards Partnership Membership: The LES Consensus Standards Partnership (CSP) serves as the final consensus voting body for approval or disapproval of any LES standard. Membership at this level affords a single member of your organization the opportunity to vote on the standards, but not to participate on the standards development committees. $250 per organization* annually

More information can be found at: www.lesusacanada.org/LESStandards * Standards membership is separate from individual LES membership. Enterprise Membership autocratically enrolls your organization as a Consensus Standards Partnership member.

WHY STANDARDS? Today, in North America and around the world, innovation is the principle source of differentiated and defensible advantage for operating companies. Innovation is the basis of advantaged products and services, and it drives sales and profits. It is the source of jobs. It is the engine of the economy. Yet the intricacies of the innovation economy are not well-understood by our political, financial, and business leaders.

For example, while intellectual property (IP) value makes up approximately 70 percent of the equity value of our publicly traded companies, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)— the standards by which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission manages reporting by publicly traded companies — treat the accounting for intangible value almost as an incidental issue.

IP and its value are nearly invisible to most of our business, financial, and political leaders.

They have little if any instruction in it. There is little accounting for it. And very often, no one has business responsibility for its protection and management, outside of the attorneys.

If you or your company owns intellectual property, transfers it to suppliers or business partners, buys or sells or helps others buy or sell intellectual property, it is in your best interest to join the LES Standards Initiative and help put the mechanics in place that will create a level playing field for fair marketplace competition. It is in your best interest to work with your colleagues to set well-informed, and rational, fair, ethical, and consistent standards around IP management. The adoption of standards will minimize the creation of confusing and contradictory legal and regulatory mandates.

11130 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 350 Reston, VA 20191 Phone: 703-234-4058 Email: standards@les.org www.lesusacanada.org

The LES Standards Group was accredited as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) on January 2017