Intellectual property is hot news. Witness the almost daily reports of ‘patent madness', and ‘brand bullies' on one hand and ‘napsterization', and the ‘death of copyright' on other. Balance this with the patenting of the human genome, one-click Amazon business method patents; drug patenting in South Africa ; cybersquatting and digital piracy.

However, the media reports provide only a snapshot of a much bigger picture and Virtual Monopoly offers pioneering insights into the major shifts taking place behind the headlines –developments that allow companies of any size to leverage their creative advantage. This book offers a radical vision of new economics at play – that of virtual monopoly in which creative vision is the starting point and intellectual property the enabling currency.

Pike demonstrates how intellectual property rights in form of patents, rights in designs, trade marks and copyrights can be used to protect a product and the business built around that product. Such definition of the intangible gives real advantages to businesses – a virtual monopoly.

The economy is dumbing-up. Truly unique, differentiated and just downright innovative products and services create waves and give rise to the promise of huge returns. Breakthrough creativity is becoming the last great, untapped source of sustainable advantage.

Now here's the rub: on its own, creative advan-tage is incapable of forming the basis for strong, sustainable business advantage. What really matters is a company's ability to build exclusive business space around that creative advantage by establishing effective barriers to competition.

Intellectual property law provides the strongest mechanism for building exclusivity in creative advantage and Virtual Monopoly will show you how to power up your own creative advantage to establish strong exclusive business spaces through the use of intellectual property.

Think of iMac, Volkswagen Beetle or Dyson as not just great but as exclusive design spaces protected by patents, designs and trade marks. View the merger activity in the pharma-ceutical or network computing industries as the bringing together of desirable, patented technology spaces. Then start to see the emerging picture. It is a picture in which intellectual property is used to seal in creative promise and define boundaries.

Pike openly discusses the new challenges and risks, in addition to the growing opportunities. He does not hold back in calling for a balanced approach and the careful, responsible steward-ship of virtual monopoly power. This is after all an era of creative advantage, not one of dumbed-down, old style capitalism and corporate muscle.

The rewards of the new economics of virtual monopoly are there for the taking; id is time for your company to get dumbed-up too!

Dr Christopher Pike is a Patent and Trademark Attorney and has worked with companies such as Procter & Gamble, Xerox and GlaxoSmithKline. He is also the founder of Pike and Co, a consultancy practice that applies a creative, commercial mindset to the provision of intellectual property services.