Innovate or Perish: Managing the Enduring Technology Company in the Global Market

About the Editor

EDWARD KAHN FOUNDED EKMS, Inc., in 1986, helping to initiate the explosion of interest in intellectual property (IP) exploitation. While at the helm of EKMS from 1986 to 2004, and then after the company’s sale to UTEK Corporation (listed on AMEX:UTK) from 2004 to 2005, Ed crafted novel approaches to IP portfolio management, pioneering the practice that came to be known as patent mining.

He led client engagements for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, Boeing, DuPont, Pitney Bowes, United Technologies, International Paper, Pharmacia, and Dow Chemical. EKMS also served notable small and venture-funded companies including J2 Global and Exos.

Ed’s main areas of expertise are technology assessment and deal making. Under his leadership, EKMS (which became UTEK-EKMS, Inc. and is now UTEK Intellectual Capital Consulting) was known for its remarkably broad outlook. It represented technologies and clients in telecommunications, diagnostics, biotechnology, semiconductors, and in the automotive and aerospace sectors. This eclectic, expansive worldview guaranteed that creative connections would be found for projects aimed at repurposing technology portfolios, developing new strategies, and spinning off company technology.

For many years, EKMS was active in the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). In its early years, the company carried out licensing and analysis programs for two dozen teaching hospitals and universities, including Harvard, Massachusetts ...