Why would a blue chip company want to join the Society?
One of the objectives of the Society is to facilitate access to intellectual property (IP). A proposal under consideration is that all members should agree to give other members access to published patented inventions on commercially reasonable terms. This right and obligation will be legally enforceable if written into the constitution. Of course consideration must be given to enforcing the rule and to appropriate let out clauses. However the guarantee of non-exclusion should prove a very valuable carrot to industry who may well be willing to pay significantly higher subscription fees in return. On the other hand holders of valuable patents will have a ready made market for their IP.
