Law Department Management Blog
The Dutch giant, Philips, has a huge group called Intellectual Property & Standards (IP&S). According to IP Review, Iss. 24, Winter 2008/2009 at 34, IP&S has a headquarters team of 45, and “some 500 people spread across 16 countries.” It is responsible for all of the company’s IP assets – trademarks, copyrights, patents, and so on. Its structure mimics the structure of Philips’ business units, so patent attorneys work for and intimately understand the IP needs of a particular unit.
Of note also is that some members of IP&S take a strong interest in standards and standards-setting bodies, such as the International Standards Organisation and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. To help lobby for favorable standards, or standards at all, is a contribution in-house lawyers can make. I have even found a blog by an in-house lawyer at Microsoft on standards, the Unoffical Standards Law Blog by David Rudin.