Intellectual Asset Management Process

Value from IP can come in two ways:

1. Value Creation through protecting proprietary technology that sustains growth and higher profit margins
2. Value Extraction through licensing royalties and IP enforcement awards and settlements

To achieve value effectively, IP-savvy companies have learned to create business-aligned IP strategies. The IP strategy must be integral to the business strategy to create maximum value. The example of the timing of Gillette's introduction of the new Fusion razor in September, 2005, followed a day later by the publication of many of their patent applications is a case in point. Utility and design patents filed on the same day covered all the relevant aspects of this new razor product platform. They were planning what kind of IP they needed to support this new product introduction for a long time. This would have required the coordination of engineering, legal, marketing and manufacturing. Obviously, IP strategy was a key part of their overall business strategy. Is it yours?

In many companies the IP strategy is left to the attorney and it becomes a legal strategy for obtaining patents without input on what kind of IP is important to the business strategy. Do you need patents, trade secrets, enabled publications, know-how and what mix of these is best?

As the diagram shows: developing the IP strategy requires input from the business management, R&D, legal, competitive situation, business strategy, desired end states, etc. Do you have a way to obtain, coordinate and develop the IP strategy from all these inputs?

IP strategy must be implemented to have the desired impact on the business. Do you have the infrastructure and processes to implement your IP strategy?

Planning and Motivating
Are your inventors motivated to disclose their inventions to the company? We can help you implement a recognition and reward program that gets results.

Creating and Acquiring
Are you extracting the right IP from your New Product Development Process? We can audit your NPD process and improve your IP return on R&D investment by 50%.

Documenting
Can your inventors prove invention date? The U.S. awards the patent to the first to invent. We have the battlefield knowledge from a dozen USPTO patent interferences to help you implement processes to prove invention date.

Reviewing
Do you file all inventions that are patentable, or do you use a review committee with transparent decision criteria based on your IP strategy? We can install processes that allow you to be sure your investment in IP directly impacts your business.

Protecting
Besides patenting, do you use trade secrets and defensive publications? Do you have a written Trade Secret Policy? We can help you understand how to utilize the full range of IP protection for your business.

Extracting Value and Measuring
Can you measure the ROI on your IP? We can help you show how IP is helping the bottom line.

Responsibility for the IP Strategy and Implementation
We can help you with job descriptions and training for Intellectual Asset Manager and IP Director.

We have found that most companies have some IP processes in place, but only to support an ad hoc patenting process. These usually can deal with inventors disclosing inventions at their own initiative with no overarching IP strategy guidance. Sustaining the gains of developing an IP strategy and implementing it requires a more deliberate and methodical process. We can audit your current IP strategy and processes and help you develop a sustainable business-aligned IP program.

Client 1

• Medium-sized consumer products company

High Priority Business Issues

• Competitor obtaining broader and more relevant IP
• New product development process was constantly changing leading to uneven results
• IP was being lost by on-sale bar

Client Results

• Focused IP strategy development at early stage of NPD
• Used IP as the "glue" to firm up NPD process and increase success rate
• Generated significant new IP increasing ROI for new product introductions

Client 2

• Early stage green-products company

High Priority Business Issues

• Want to use IP to raise company value
• Few IP processes in place

Client Results

• Defined action plan for IP strategy development
• Implemented NPD-IP processes to reduce business risk and ensure all IP was extracted
• 8 invention disclosures extracted
• 4 new patent applications filed