ipBlog^SM

ipCapital Group's blog on intellectual property trends and news

Business Interests are Finally a Focus at the USPTO!

The newly published USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan is the first strategic document from the USPTO that demonstrates that someone who has used IP as a global business asset is in charge! No wonder, as the new Director of the USPTO, David Kappos, comes with 20 years of experience managing IP at IBM.

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Recent Uproar around False Patent Marking

False patent marking has become a hot topic recently as case law around patent marking on products and recent legal developments have created a lucrative opportunity with very low barriers to entry. More than 100 cases have been filed so far in 2010 and new cases are being filed daily. ipCG has some suggestions on how your company might respond.

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The Strategic Use of Design Patents

Design patents are a form of IP that should be considered by all industries as their strategic use, in conjunction with utility patents and other forms of IP, can strengthen and enhance the value of a company's IP portfolio and brand.

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Degrees of Patent Analysis: Which Approach to Use and When?

Good preparation for a patent search can lead to successful and effective patent analysis, whereas the lack of preparation can lead to the disappointed stakeholders, missed IP opportunities, or wasted time.

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Measuring, Managing, and Communicating Intangible Asset Value

Intellectual property (IP), such as a patent portfolio, is a critical intangible asset for innovative companies. However, IP presents management and communication challenges because few companies catalog their IP strategically or link its development to value creation, i.e. increased revenues or decreased costs.

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Cost-Effective IP Strategy Investment

Whether a company uses its IP offensively or defensively, a company's investment in IP strategy can be implemented cost-effectively in both the short and long term. Four practices to consider are: an IP portfolio audit, strategic foreign filings, defensive publications, and strategic portfolio development.

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Leading Companies are Integrating Product Development, IAM, and IP Processes

"It is only a matter of time before the integration of IP and product development becomes part of the mainstream business process. Companies have to decide whether they want to be leaders or laggards as this happens." John Cronin, Managing Director & Chairman of ipCG, and Brad Goldense President and CEO of Goldense Group, Inc. are the authors of "Integral IAM and new product processes are the future," published in the November/December 2009 issue of IAM Magazine. Their article stresses the importance of becoming an early adopter to the growing trend of merging intellectual property and business goals.

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ipCapital Group speaking at the Licensing Executive Society

If you are attending, be sure and stop by one of the workshops in which ipCG is partnering to speak at LES with other companies.

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ipCapital Group Releases iPhone^TM Application; Ah-Ha!^TM Discovery Deck

ipCG is pleased to announce the release of its first iPhone^TM application, the Ah Ha!^TM Discovery Deck, which is an electronic version of a brainstorming and creativity tool that ipCG has been using for years with clients.

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Mobile Device Applications and IP

If you expect mobile applications will become an established channel of communication for your business, you should consider implementing a formal strategy to guide the development process, from generation ideas to prototype creation to selection of best mode of IP protection.

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Intellectual Asset Management Best Practices for Small Companies

Small companies can face large financial hurdles on the way to securing intellectual property (IP) protection, particularly with patents. Accumulated patent lifecycle costs can exceed $125,000 for one US & one PCT filing. This cost may include prior art searching, patent drafting, patent prosecution, and maintenance fees.

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Is it worth $20M or $200M? A case study on (un)realistic IP licensing value expectations

IP valuation is complicated by a host of factors, such as accessing market comparables, determining IP risk, handicapping potential licensees, and calculating the uncertain economic benefits to be generated by IP assets. While many sources enumerate methods of IP valuation, few provide real-life applications or guidelines.

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Weathering the Economic Storm in Telecom with Strategic Management of Intellectual Property

Telecom companies large and small will reduce costs by out-sourcing more processes, reducing headcount, and generally reaffirming focus on core markets and technologies. The cost-cutting conversation for many will eventually turn to intellectual property (IP), and rightly so. There is opportunity for many thousands or millions of dollars in value creation by reducing costs and increasing revenue through strategic management of IP.

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IP Training

The development and management of IP is an art, not a science. Of all corporate job functions, only IP attorneys receive formal training related to IP, but just related to the legal side of intellectual property. More comprehensive training is needed...

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The Disruptions are Coming!

All companies are susceptible to disruption - across all industries, at every scale, and in both strong and weak players. IP plays a key role in disruption - it is both a means for identifying it and protection against it. Make sure that you are ready when disruption comes galloping your way!

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Consumer Products

Innovation is the lifeblood of consumer products companies, as they strive to stay ahead of competitors, respond to evolving customer needs, and manage other market pressures. Products typically have short timelines for development, design, and marketing and high corporate expectations for sales. Getting products to the market is just the first step in a long process.

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Grow Patent Quality with Reverse Engineering in Mind

Any company that files patents as part of its intellectual property (IP) strategy should be actively thinking about the end use of these assets. In order to maximize business leverage, a patent holder must be able to demonstrate that a third party is using or may have a desire to use the patented invention.

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Minimize Loss of Intellectual Assets When Downsizing

Is your company planning to layoff employees in response to a tougher economic environment? Do you have a process for preventing valuable intellectual assets from walking out the door along with your exiting employees?

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IP Valuation

A valuation of a company's patent portfolio or of a specific group of patents is important in helping the company to determine the value of its portfolio in a licensing transaction or in the sale of the company. It is important for companies to understand the drivers of value within their portfolios and to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the portfolios.

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ipCG Benchmarking Survey

Companies engage in strategic planning to lay out a path to success in various areas of business. In strategic planning, achievement of milestones and progress toward goals are assessed using a variety of metrics, both quantitative and qualitative. A refined set of those metrics may be designated for use as key performance indicators (KPIs).

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Should I File Patents in China?

There is a lot in the news about IP piracy and counterfeiting in China. This may cause you to be indecisive about whether or not it is important to file patents there. It is also very clear from the numerous analytics work we have done in almost every industry that only a handful of companies have a clear filing strategy. Many of our clients ask us what they should do.

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Innovation Protection Through IP Strategy

In a recent article, "Is the recession suffocating American Innovation?," Deb Riechmann of the Associated Press describes some trends that may be negatively impacting the success of innovation in the US. There has been a decline in the new patent applications at the US Patent and Trademark Office because some companies...

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Telecommunications

The telecommunications industry continues to evolve. Competitive threats come from the least likely sources. Technology continues to create new business models and disrupt the old. Network convergence may shift the balance of power.

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Innovation and IP Strategy: Even More Important Now

In Vijay Govindarajan's blog, "Strategy and Innovation," his April 12th entry responds to a recent BusinessWeek article, "Is Innovation Too Costly in Hard Times?" From the article, IBM Chief Executive Samuel Palmisano, states, "Some may be tempted to hunker down, to scale back their investment in innovation. While that might make sense during a cyclical downturn, it's a mistake when you're going through a major shift in the global economy."

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IP and the Banking Industry

In 1997, a small Texas company called DataTreasury invented and patented a novel technology to electronically capture and store checks. More than 10 years later, after post-September 11th laws were instituted requiring banks to be less reliant on paper checks being transported by aircraft, DataTreasury found that its patent was being used by a long list of major American banks.

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IP Cost Management

As the economic downturn forces companies to tighten their collective belts, one strategy they cannot afford to abandon is strategic management of intellectual property (IP) through patents - one of the most powerful methods of protecting competitive advantages.

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Brand and IP

In today's competitive marketplace, companies cannot miss any opportunity to strengthen, improve, and protect their brands. They have to look beyond traditional strategies of securing trademarks, copyrighting text, and protecting designs.

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