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HP sets up tech licensing center in Asia
SINGAPORE–Hewlett-Packard
has launched its second intellectual property (IP) licensing center,
this time in Singapore to help Asian businesses gain a head start.
According
to Tan Lee Chew, managing director of HP Southeast Asia, the new
Asia-Pacific licensing center can help Asian businesses leapfrog others
in the technology sector, with HP’s expertise.
For now, the
licensing center is focused on developing technology licensing
agreements in China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. But
Tan said the company will extend licensing to other Asian countries, if
business needs arise.
HP’s first IP licensing center is in Palo Alto, Calif.
Asian
companies can now work with the new center to license HP’s brand,
patents, trademarks, and copyright in technology areas. These include
consumer electronics and emerging technologies such as fuel cells,
semiconductors, networking, storage and software.
Lim Eng Hann, the
licensing center’s associate director, noted that HP’s licensing
agreements in the region would focus mainly on branding and technology.
In
brand licensing, companies can tag the HP brand on their own products,
such as PC accessories and optical media, Lim said. HP has audit
processes to ensure those products meet quality requirements.
Technology
licensing involves licensing HP’s technology wholesale to device
manufacturers. So far, HP has already signed up its first Asia-Pacific
client–Prodigy Labs.
India-based Prodigy Labs will license HP’s
gesture-based keyboard technology. Such keyboards enable users to
create text using phonetic scripts, rather than Roman alphabets.
Lim
said: “One of the reasons why SMS (short message service) has not taken
off quickly in India is because people have problems with alphanumeric
input.” Gesture-based keyboards will let cellphone users enter text in
Indic script.
However, there are some restrictions if a company wants to license HP’s bread and butter technologies.
For
example, HP’s inkjet printing technology, which may also be used to
apply small droplets of medication, cannot be used by licensees to
manufacture printers, according to Ilja Bedner, HP’s chief technology
officer of IP licensing.
Revenue generator
Besides giving Asian businesses a helping hand, HP also hopes to derive additional revenues through licensing.
Bedner
said: “Licensing will create additional revenues outside traditional
products and services. It’s also a great way for us to get return on
investments in research and development.”
HP started its licensing
group in January 2003, and has seen its returns from licensing
quadruple from US$50 million to US$200 million in three years.
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