326 Int. J. Intellectual Property Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2009 Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Intellectual Property Management in the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo José Luis Solleiro Rebolledo* Centro de Ciencias Aplicadas y Desarrollo Tecnológico, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, México, DF E-mail: solleiro@servidor.unam.mx *Corresponding author Katya Amparo Luna López Miramontes 1469, Churubusco Country Club CP 04210, México City, DF E-mail: katluna22@yahoo.com Abstract: Protecting research results has been considered critical for R&D management. New competitive conditions have triggered new approaches to IP management, far beyond protection of research results. Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP) is a large research institution and was created as technology arm of the petroleum industry. IMP is now pioneering the adoption of the concept of research as a business unit. This paper presents the results of an investigation of IMP’s experience in IP management, identifying strengths and weaknesses according to a model proposed by the authors that considers a set of practices and instruments to optimise value generation from IP. Keywords: research centres; IPM; intellectual property management; Mexico; technology transfer; licensing research results; Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo (IMP). Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Solleiro Rebolledo, J.L. and Luna López, K.A. (2009) ‘Intellectual Property Management in the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo’, Int. J. Intellectual Property Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.326–342. Biographical notes: José Luis Solleiro Rebolledo has a background on Industrial Engineering from the National University of Mexico and a PhD in Innovation Management from the Vienna University of Technology. He is currently a Senior Researcher at the Center for Applied Science and Technological Development. He has a long experience in technology transfer and IPM. He has published papers on Management of Technology in different scholar journals and has coordinated international collaborative programs in technology transfer and management. He was President of the Latin American Technology Management Association and is currently President of the Mexican chapter of the Licensing Executives Society International. He has teaching experience in 16 countries in the field of Management of Technology. Katya Amparo Luna López is an Economist and holds a Master Degree in Policy and Management of Technological Change. She conducted a research internship at the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo (IMP) for a year and a half and graduated with honours in 2004. Since 2002, she collaborates as a Research