Big Blue's chip chief takes up IP helm

High rate of patents, open-source age increase importance of intellectual property issues.

Stephen Shankland principal writer

Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.

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Stephen Shankland

Nov. 1, 2004 5:08 p.m. PT

John Kelly, the executive who led IBM's microprocessor work, has taken a new post in charge of technology direction and intellectually property issues at the company.

IBM is centralizing and elevating its efforts to oversee intellectual property matters such as patents and copyrights, and Kelly will lead the effort, spokesman Tim Blair said on Wednesday.

"The organization is being formed within the corporation right now," Blair said. "We've had heads of intellectual property for some time, just not at a senior vice president level."

Kelly also will oversee technology leadership efforts such as the IBM Academy, a group that tries to anticipate the most promising directions for future product development, Blair said.

Kelly had headed up IBM's technology group, the organization in charge of microprocessor design and manufacturing. In January, the group combined with the server unit led by Bill Zeitler, who remains in charge of the combined group.

Intellectual property matters are of major importance to IBM, the computing company that consistently secures the most patents each year. Rivals such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems are accelerating their patent efforts.

But patents are a balancing act for IBM, in part because of its embrace of open-source software, whose advocates are often critical of software patents. At the same time that Big Blue earns substantial revenue each year from licensing its patents, it also has made decisions such as a pledge not to sue if it finds patent infringement in the Linux kernel.