Reviews
Kirkus Review
A veteran businessman assesses the state of intellectual property rights in the United Kingdom and beyond.
In this debut business book, Jones looks at the development of IP concepts in the U.K. as well as their current situation in the country. He also compares the British IP infrastructure and culture to that of the United States. The book recommends that readers pay closer attention to intellectual property in all its forms—including patents, copyrights, and trademarks—as a means of developing economic growth through manufacturing. Jones calls for a reevaluation of government involvement in IP creation and regulation, as well as a shift in mindset to draw more attention to engineers and developers. In support of his call for a sharper focus on intellectual property rights, which he abbreviates as IPR,
Jones suggests new terminology for the subject, including “iprimigration” (immigration to work for companies with desirable IP), “iprology—the study of IPR and its impact on people’s wealth,” and “iprastack—a stack of IPR leading to the final product or service.” Neologisms aside, the prose is often convoluted (“I introduce the US Congress because the US Constitution and Bill or Rights formalised the Congress’s role in intellectual property before it was termed such and has possibly skewed the international IP landscape”), resulting in an overlong book. Some portions might have benefited from further review, including unsubstantiated assumptions (“In a leap of logic, which I could link conceptually through investment models…”) and notations (“It has also been reported (source unknown) that intellectual-property theft (in the US?) is up from $59 billion in 2001 to $250 billion in 2004”). On the whole, however, Jones displays a clear command of his subject matter, both conceptually and factually. The book’s arguments might have been rendered more concisely, but they do present a coherent, reasonable analysis of the role of intellectual property in the 21st-century economy.
A thorough examination of the economic, political, and cultural treatment of IP.
IPKat Review
IPKat is the leading global blog on Intellectual Property
MindWealth, by William A. Jones, is a book written by a true and dedicated IP enthusiast. Again, the title tells you as much about the writer as it does about his subject, since it bears the small-print subtitle “Building Personal Wealth from Intellectual Property Rights”.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) are a force for good. People could harness their power more. The book describes the UK and global environment in which people can build personal wealth from IP. At its core is the statistic that approximately 70 per cent of a firm’s value is in its IP, which is generated by people. Changing the environment would help more people build personal wealth from IPR. That includes a better industrialization environment that delivers national competitive advantage through IPR. Author William Jones describes the ecosystem within which people generate and exploit IPR, using many examples, snapshots, and observations, as well as structured disciplines. The book takes a look at this ecosystem through the lens of the individual and IPR – and more specifically, the underpinning idea is that people can build their wealth by ensuring that IP works for them. It highlights factors that can influence an individual’s ability to be successful. It suggests new ideas to provide a better platform for building personal wealth.
The book doesn’t fall neatly into any genre of, for example, investment, economics, law, or politics [you can say that again, says Merpel! It is a text with many strands: there’s legal and commercial advice, war stories, personal reflections and the wisdom that can only be distilled from years of experience in the field]. Rather, it integrates or synthesizes a different position and new genre which exists above or to one side of these.
If you love, or merely like, IP, and if you want a comforting read that will reinforce most of your cherished opinions and beliefs rather than threaten them — and if you want a tome that will last you right through the quiet end-of-year period, this book, published by AuthorHouse, could be the book for you.
