Law Department Management Blog
The chief intellectual property officer (CIPO) is a position that has recently been created at several large companies, including IBM, HP, SAP, Yahoo!, Boeing, GE, and Microsoft.
The CIPO is the senior officer of the company responsible for maintaining and enhancing a company’s return on investment for its IP assets, and a primary responsibility is the creation and maintenance of a worldwide patent portfolio. Traditionally, the chief IP attorney of the company, reporting to the general counsel, has handled IP assets. The CIPO is part of executive management and is able to direct the IP decisions of all parts of the company. Managing Intellectual Prop., Oct. 2005 and Hildebrandt Headlines of Oct. 28, 2005.