The Google Microsoft legal fight these days about one individual is the perfect example of the supreme value of intellectual capital.
Google looks at it as a scare tactic. It could really be that, but it is a clear statement that people and confidential strategies are worth more than anyone can think.
The immense value of Microsoft is based on three key things, usually seen as the pillars of intellectual capital. 1) Relationship capital or customers, 2) structural capital crystallized by patents, and 3) human capital. Those were described in the seminal work: the Invisible Balance sheet.
First, the relationship capital has been the one most closely watched as Microsoft gained ownership of the desktop and built a great brand as well as distribution channels.
Second, the structural capital and its ownership; lets not forget that it is a company that built most of its wealth by a clever trick to acquire the property of an operating system it didnt design originally. (And most of those clever tricks are attributable to Gates fathers trade: law.) The key tool here is patent.
Third, the human capital is the key for future innovation and value. This is why the battle is so fierce today between Microsoft and Google, and why any serious company should spend more time on managing and acquiring its source of future value: Talent. This is also why I see Taleos industry pushing a tidal wave!