Publications

March 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for Innovation at Tessera Technologies

By: Willy C. Shih

Tessera Technologies has been very successful developing technologies for the semiconductor and mobile device industry, and then licensing them broadly to manufacturers. In addition to licensing patents, it also supplies know-how to help manufacturers move into... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation Strategy; Patents; Courts and Trials; Rights; Mobile Technology; Semiconductor Industry; California

2016
Working Paper

Patent Publication and the Market for Ideas

By: Deepak Hegde and Hong Luo

In this paper, we study the effect of invention disclosure through patent publication on the market for ideas. We do so by analyzing the effects of the American Inventor's Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA)—which required US patent applications to be published 18 months... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Biotechnology Industry

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04 Oct 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Imperfect Information, Patent Publication, and the Market for Ideas

Keywords: by Deepak Hegde & Hong Luo; Legal Services

Article

Turning Waste into By-Product

By: Deishin Lee

This paper studies how a firm can create and capture value by converting a waste stream into a useful and saleable by-product (i.e., implementing by-product synergy [BPS]). We show that BPS creates an operational synergy between two products that are jointly produced.... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Innovation and Invention; Cost Management; Opportunities; Market Participation; Framework; Profit; Competition; Wastes and Waste Processing; Product; Business Processes

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November 1978 (Revised October 1989)
Case

Amicon Corp. (A)

Amicon holds a patent on a new process for the separation of blood plasma from whole blood. It has to decide whether to pursue a direct entry, joint venture, or licensing strategy. If it chooses licensing, there are many sub-issues to consider. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Patents; Commercialization; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

September 1999 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Strategic Deal Making at Millennium Pharmaceuticals

A small start-up in 1993, Millennium Pharmaceuticals was a name-brand biotechnology company by the end of 1998, with a market capitalization of $1.4 billion. The Cambridge-based company's growth strategy had relied heavily on building alliances for early-stage drug... View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Negotiation Deal; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Cambridge

February 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Case

AIDS in Brazil

By: Rohit Deshpande and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Abbott Labs has reached an impasse with the Brazilian government in negotiations over the pricing of a new anti-AIDS drug, Kaletra. The Brazilian government threatens compulsory licensing unless Abbott drastically reduces the price of Kaletra. View Details

Keywords: Price; Government and Politics; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Rights; Negotiation; Business and Government Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Brazil

October 2011 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Ensighten

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Michael J. Roberts

Focuses on a small start-up software company engaged in a negotiation over its software licensing agreement with a very large potential client. The entrepreneur must weight legal and business issues vs. his desire to land the key customer. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Plan; Business Startups; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Contracts; Information Technology Industry

May 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Frasier (A)

By: Guhan Subramanian and Michelle Kalka

In 2001, NBC entered into contract negotiations with Paramount Television Group to keep the hit show "Frasier" on the network. Paramount, the studio that produced the show, threatened to move "Frasier" to CBS, Paramount's sister network, if NBC did not agree to a... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth

By: Juan Alcácer and Adina Wong

In June 2022, the founders of Singapore mobile operator Circles.Life had a crucial decision to make. Circles.Life developed a new business model in mobile telecommunications—a digital telco—built around its proprietary operating system. After expanding its brand in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Singapore

September 1993
Supplement

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (B)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a drug delivery company, must decide what and for whom to manufacture. In the past, it has licensed to pharmaceutical companies its patented system for the slow release of drugs into the human system. Therefore the company has little experience in choice of drug... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Patents; Production; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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September 2012
Teaching Note

Stryker Corporation: Capital Budgeting (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This case examines some parts of Stryker Corporation's systems and procedures for approving and authorizing capital spending of many different types, including buildings, machinery, and working capital for existing businesses, as well as transactions with third parties... View Details

Keywords: Capital Expenditures-equipment; Capital Expenditures-machinery; Internal Rate Of Return; Discounted Cash Flows; Net Present Value; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Cash Flow; System; Organizational Culture; Policy; Business Processes; Capital Budgeting

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

John Branca: Negotiating Michael Jackson's Thriller (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

John Branca, attorney to pop musician Michael Jackson, must negotiate a series of deals on behalf of his client in order to safeguard his financial interests and creative license during a period of rising stardom. View Details

Keywords: Dealmaking; Negotiation; Entertainment; Music Entertainment

September 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Priceline.com v. Microsoft (A)

Describes Priceline's patent of its "reverse auction" pricing mechanism, its discussions with Microsoft regarding Microsoft's license of the patent for its Expedia service, Microsoft's subsequent use of the technology without a license, and Priceline's decision whether... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Patents; Rights; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Software; Information Technology Industry

March 2009
Case

Incept LLC and Confluent Surgical (A)

By: Bhaskar Chakravorti, Toby E. Stuart and James Weber

A venture capitalist must decide whether to invest in a medical technology company that licenses intellectual property from a privately held IP holding company based on a platform technology. Entrepreneurs Amar Sawhney and Fred Khosravi founded Incept LLC to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

October 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Disney Consumer Products in Lebanon

By: John A. Quelch

The managing director of Disney Consumer Products for Europe and the Middle East is reviewing recent market research in Lebanon regarding the sales potential of Disney licensed products and assessing the pros and cons of several distribution options. View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Lebanon

February 2012
Case

First Quantum Minerals vs. Eurasian Natural Resources

By: George Serafeim

The case describes the battle between First Quantum Mineral (FQM) and Eurasian Resources over mines in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After FQM's license to operate was revoked by the government of the DRC, Eurasian bought the rights over the mines that were... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Governance; Natural Environment; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Mining Industry; Congo, Democratic Republic of the

May 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Performance Indicator

Performance Indicator is a start-up that holds patents on the use of color-change technology to indicate when golf balls have been damaged by exposure to water. Because golfers put two to five used golf balls into play for every one new ball they buy, the used golf... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Patents; Entrepreneurship; Sports; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry