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The Patent Epidemic |
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Back in 2001, something strange happened in the world of patent law. Microsoft, which had been fighting a lawsuit by Priceline, suddenly gave up. The suit, filed in late 1999, claimed that Priceline had patented its “name your own price” auction strategy, and that no one else could use it without a license from the company. Microsoft had been using a similar strategy on its Expedia travel site and had been arguing in U.S. District Court in Connecticut that the auction method was too obvious to be patented. |
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Corporate Social Res |
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It’s hard to argue with an idea that sounds as positive as “corporate social responsibility.” After all, corporations should make a positive impact on the world, and the scandals at Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom demonstrate what can happen when unscrupulous CEOs put profits ahead of every other goal. But some theorists and some executives seem to be carrying the idea too far. |
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The United States Ha |
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To understand how momentous this trend is, we need to take a step back to get a better perspective. The primary mission of Trends is to prepare our subscribers to anticipate the threats and opportunities they’ll face in the future. Most of these threats and opportunities occur at the intersection of three broad forces: demographics, technology, and values. |
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Real vs. Cyber Becom |
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Amazon has revolutionized the way people buy books, Google has transformed the way people search for information, and eBay has changed the way people buy and sell items that used to be sold at yard sales. |
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Resilience Is the De |
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Most business executives have traditionally viewed business models as static constructs that work on a simple input-output method. And yet today, because of a variety of forces, from globalization to the information revolution, companies are being forced to face the fact that nothing is static anymore. All systems, including business models and strategies, are dynamic and ever-evolving. |
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