area of patent reform legislation. This might include a review of patent litigation and patent liability insurance and a review of federal and state technology policies to encourage promotion of patent pools. Also, a review of how the federal technology transfer system, including the Bayh-Dole Act, does or does not facilitate the creation of intangible assets may be in order. Finally, there is a whole series of federal government business loan programs to review, especially in the small business arena, to ensure that intangible assets can be used as collateral. This would include requiring the Small Business Administration to work with its commercial lenders to develop standards for the use of intangible assets as collateral, similar to its existing underwriting standards.

Jarboe concluded with the point that measuring, encouraging development, and using intangibles is all about changing people’s mind set—changing the fact that, right now, intangibles are largely invisible. Echoing a major theme of the day, he stated that what is not measured does not get managed, and there are “a thousand places in the public policy area where we can begin to get a handle on that.”