Tag: IP



Photo above: Albert Ip, (third from left) BS ’73, at the dedication ceremony for the Albert and Pasy Ip Classroom in Olin’s in Simon Hall in March. ©Photo by Jerry Naunheim

Albert Ip, BS ’73, knows a lot about giving back. He has been volunteering with Washington University for more than 15 years. He is the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Alumni Club and a member of the Alumni Board of Governors. Previously, he was a member of the International Advisory Council for Asia and of the Wells Fargo Advisors Center for Finance and Accounting Research. He is currently chairman of the International Regional Cabinet of Hong Kong.

An avid volunteer with other schools as well, Ip was recently inducted as an honoree of the Beta Gamma Sigma Society at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s School of Business. In his speech, Ip said: “You and I have been given and benefited from an excellent education. These opportunities were made possible by others who saw value in investing in your future.”

As a teenager in Macau, China, Ip needed someone to invest in him. He knew he wanted to go to university in the United States, and he knew he’d need a robust scholarship.

“I applied to 15 universities in the U.S.,” Ip says. He was paying all the application fees with cashier’s checks. “I still remember my dad saying, ‘Wow, Son, this must be the fiftieth cashier’s check I’ve bought for you.’” Ip recalls with a laugh.

Ip was admitted to several colleges, but Washington University gave him a full scholarship. He enrolled in the School of Engineering & Applied Science where he studied applied mathematics and computer science. Some semesters, Ip took six or seven courses, in addition to working on campus. His industriousness paid off, and he graduated in three years summa cum laude.

After Washington University, Ip enrolled in Cornell University’s applied mathematics PhD program. But after earning his master’s degree, he decided to pursue a career in business instead and earned a master’s degree in finance at Carnegie Mellon University. Both universities gave Ip fellowships, including a monthly stipend, but he regrets not finishing his PhD at Cornell.

Ip started working for Citibank in New York not long after graduating from Carnegie Mellon and moved to Hong Kong nearly 30 years ago. In 2007, he retired from Citibank and started working for Merrill Lynch. Ip retired from finance in 2011 and is currently chief executive officer of Langham Hospitality Investments, a listed company in Hong Kong. He is also on the board of six other listed companies in Hong Kong. Despite these obligations, Ip devotes a substantial amount of time to working in higher education — his passion.

“It’s something that I really enjoy,” he says before launching into a story about a top-listed real-estate company that interviewed a student Ip recommended. The head of human resources called Ip to get his final recommendation, and during the call, the student got the job. In an academic year, Ip counsels 50 to 60 students.

“It’s not work,” Ip says. “It’s like enjoying a good movie.” He sits on the Council of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a McDonnell Academy Scholar partner, and was previously a council member of Lingnan University. He is an adjunct or honorary professor at five universities, including City University of Hong Kong, University of Macau and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Ip delivers talks at universities, both in Hong Kong and overseas. In 2016, he delivered 15 talks, including one at Washington University.

Recently, WashU named a classroom in Simon Hall after Ip. “Unbeknownst to me, Chancellor [Mark S.] Wrighton came,” Ip says. “I said, ‘Mark! I thought this was going to be just taking a few photos that I could take back to my wife.’ It turned out to be a naming ceremony, and I really appreciated that. It was a surprise and a warm welcome, to say the least.”

By Rosalind Early, originally published in WashU Asia Extra, Summer 2017




Our team’s work on investigating Intellectual Property (IP) issues for Invisible Industries has been very interesting and given us insights into the IP issues that startup companies have to worry about. A startup company not only has to know the various IP issues, but also must prepare a strategy to react if it receives notice of an infringement or discovers others infringing. That is because a startup company has limited resources and so, while the company might be right under the law, it might lack the resources to combat or pursue action with regards to IP.

Patents with relation to software are at a very unique status in patent law history. Because of a court ruling, patents were opened for software uses several years ago as computers were becoming popular. Up until the mid-2000’s, companies were using patents to protect different features of software. Amazon’s 1-click ordering button is the best example. Amazon currently has the patent on that button and defends it vigorously.

However, in 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that software couldn’t be patented, and so, two years later (the time it took to get all pending patents evaluated), all software patents stopped. Currently, software patents are not permitted, though some exist because of this window. Moreover, the Supreme Court left the question of software patents open. That is, the Supreme Court ruled that the issue of software patents was not finalized. The Court wanted to see how technology would evolve before making a ruling.

Theoretically, a startup could still file a patent for software and hope that the Supreme Court would rule differently in the near future and decide the open aspect of the current patent law. But, as stated before, a startup has limited resources. A Start-up can’t spend those limited resources on expensive patents that are long-shots at best. Instead, we need to find other ways to help protect IP including trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights. Again, those other aspects of IP will be analyzed in a legal sense and a strategic business sense to give Invisible Industries the best recommendation.

CELect team: James Bierman, MBA’16; Prateek Gupta, Engineering; Kevin Jacobsen, Law; Max Suiter, Fine Arts