Should corporations appoint a chief intellectual property officer?

Ben Kerschberg again has written on the stewardship of IP in corporations. He quotes Nigel Page, Finance Editor of Intellectual Asset Management:

"Pioneering companies . . . have paved the way in proving that forward-looking IP management can contribute directly to the bottom line and competitiveness, provided that is aligned properly and completely with the overall business strategy."

IP management requires a system for identification, evaluating and triaging intangible assets. That, in turn, requires global access to corporate resources and the full support of the CEO and Board of Directors, and in the opinion of many, can be achieved only with the proper leadership and status.

Cathy Reese in Intellectual Asset Management Magazine argued that IP oversight “is all too often diffuse and uncoordinated…it is high time for corporations to assign ownership of these assets to the proper corporate steward.”

As Fish & Richardson put it, “currently, there is no consensus as to the natural owner of the intangible assets that now comprise much of the value that resides in most corporations.”  Is it time for the Chief Intellectual Property Officer to become commonplace?