Abstract
In a mature software-oriented society, intellectual properties, including patents, copyrights and trademarks, are exchanged in a competitive market. An increasing number of enterprises are being involved in licencing business which yields return on intellectual rights. Internet has given rise to "cyber-economy" based on globally disseminated digital information. However, the pricing mechanism working in such marketplaces are not yet well understood. Evaluation within organizations of intellectual rights is unstable and not always fair. Meanwhile, about 25% of publicly owned companies (and 45% of companies with more than 10,000 employees) are reported to implement economic evaluation of their own intellectual properties. It is estimated that more than 0.2% of sales is spent in intellectual property management (as much as 0.4-0.7% in industries such as precision instruments, electronics, electric appliances, mechanical and chemical). This situation requires investigations into the pricing mechanism of intellectual property.
