As an IP Business Strategist, I frequently speak to CEOs of high growth/start-up companies. I have prepared this short deck to walk them through the basics of how IP Strategy can be implemented in their organizations, and where in their organizations their intangible assets might reside.
IP Strategies for High Growth Companies
Reality Check for Inventors: Most Corporations Will Not Give Your Idea a First Look. Here’s Some Reasons Why.
Many people assume that corporations will readily consider good ideas from external sources, presumably because from the outside it makes sense to do so. That is, why should a corporation spend the time and money to create something from scratch if someone else has invented a product or technology that is a good fit and can be acquired at a reasonable cost? Against this assumption, countless numbers of inventors have expended considerable time, money and hopes on patenting their inventions and submitting them to corporations for review.
The sad truth is that most of the money and efforts of these hopeful inventors are wasted. Few corporations today have policies that make it possible for their employees to gather unsolicited ideas from outside of their existing employee or supplier base. Ideas sent to the corporation by outside inventors rarely get reviewed for merit by the relevant business teams. Rather, after the inventor submitting the idea is
Welcome to the New Home of the IP Asset Maximizer Blog!
This blog has been in existence since March 2008, and there is content going back to then on this new site. For those who have been regular readers of this blog, I hope you enjoy the new format. For new readers, I hope to engage with you frequently about the topics discussed here. The blog is built on the Wordpress platform. There will probably been minor tweaks here and there as I gain skills with this product. Please feel free to tell me if there is something that can be improved or to suggest a topic that you would like me to write about. I will be upgrading my other websites soon, so be on the lookout for changes there, too.
Corporate IP Managers: There are Bargains Galore Available at Some of the Most Prestigious Law Firms
With corporate legal budgets being cut more than 10% in 2009 it might seem like challenging times to manage a corporate IP department. To add to the difficulties, such reductions are occurring even while many corporations are increasing the focus placed on creation of value using strategic IP management. Corporate IP managers must therefore obtain more valuable IP with smaller budgets.
Fortunately for corporate IP managers, the current economic climate has forced many prestigious law firms to, perhaps for the first time, develop innovative billing and practice models. This has not only resulted in the effective billable rates of these law firms effectively dropping more than 10%, but many law firms have or are developing more efficient ways to deliver legal services to their clients. Smart law firms will pass these cost savings on to their clients to
Improve Your Chances of Obtaining a Patent at a Reasonable Cost and Time by Demonstrating the “Wow Factor” in the Application
A strong majority of people seeking patent protection to protect their products or technology leave the details the drafting process to their patent attorneys. That is, given the specialized (and, frankly, arcane) nature of the patenting process, even highly accomplished business professionals believe that a patent specialist (i.e., attorney or agent) is better equipped to understand how to best describe their invention to the US Patent Office (“USPTO”). This can be an ineffective way to handle the front end of the patenting process because it can result in the process being more contentious. Such contentiousness can result in narrower claims than desired and can make the patent take longer to issue and make the process considerably more expensive. In determining whether a client’s invention meets the legal requirements for patentability, a patent specialist thinks about how to legally distinguish the invention from those that have come before. Specifically, the patent specialist
Start-up Entrepreneurs & CEO’s: If Your Goal is Investment or Acquisition, You are Probably Patenting the Wrong Things
Do you treat your patents as a fence or a tollbooth? If you wish for your start-up technology company to obtain investment from or acquisition by a bigger player, you had better understand the difference. Most start-up technology company entrepreneurs and CEO's understand that patents can be key to establishing the value of a new business idea. Typically, entrepreneurs and CEO's such as yourself will engage patent attorneys to build an IP portfolio that protects the start-up's technology and products to the fullest extent possible. The motivation for this effort and expense is, of course, to to protect your start-up's idea from use by others. As management of a start-up you may be seeking to build an ongoing business around the patented technology, but often the goal of building a solid patent portfolio is to make your business an attractive target for investment or acquisition by a larger company. I believe that
IP Business Congress: Blog Summaries for Those Who Couldn’t Attend
The IP Business Congress ("IPBC") was held on June 21-23 in Chicago. This meeting, established by IAM Magazine, brought IP business experts, both lawyers and non-lawyers, from around the world to discuss issues relevant to IP. If, like me, you were unable to attend, you will appreciate the blog authors who have thoughtfully posted their summaries and thoughts about the Congress. (If anyone comes across any more, please let me know and I will add them.)
Joff Wild: IAM Magazine Blog
Michael Martin: Broken Symetry Blog
Duncan Bucknell: IP ThinkTank Blog
Peter Zura: 271 Blog (Great overview of the NPE break-out session)
IP.com: Securing Innovation (Interviews with IP Hall of Fame Inductees)
Everything’s Negotiable: How Corporations Can Drastically Reduce Their IP Legal Costs without Sacrificing IP Quality
Corporate legal managers and the business teams they support complain seemingly constantly ab
out outside counsel expense, and intellectual property ("IP") is no exception. And, why wouldn't they complain when every dollar spent on legal representation is money that is effectively removed from the company's P&L statement? This sets up an ongoing tension between corporations and law firms to reduce legal costs even while lawyers' incomes have sky-rocketed in recent years.
For most corporate buyers of legal services, however, the ability to obtain substantive cost reduction has been somewhat limited due to the lack of transparent information available about legal fees. It may be even more difficult for corporate legal services buyers to gain meaningful reductions in IP costs because of the highly specialized nature of this area of law practice which, arguably, makes IP more of a "Black Box" than most areas. Moreover, regardless
Is There an Emerging Business Model for IP Lawyers’ Owning So-Called "Patent Trolls"? Only Until Their Corporate Clients Find Out.
Dennis Crouch of The PatentlyO blog recently posted an intriguing tidbit about
about well-known IP attorneys Carl Moore (Of counsel at Marshall Gerstein); Timothy Vezeau (patent attorney at Katten Muchin); and Nate Scarpelli (who used to and still appears to be associated with Marshall Gerstein). These prominent members of the Chicago IP community appear to be "moon-lighting" from their respective law practices to act as managing partners at a patent holding company called "Virtual Photo Store LLC" ("VPS"). As reported in PatentlyO, VPS is currently involved as defendant in a Declaratory Judgment action.
Here is a copy of the DJ Complaint, also posted at PatentlyO. (Interestingly, the Complaint lists VPS' address as that of the Marshall, Gerstein law firm.)The Complaint alleges that VPS is a non-practicing entity
News Items: IAM 250, IP Metrics Benchmarking Study and New Blog for Innovation Entrepreneurs
Regular readers of the IP Asset Maximizer blog will note that my postings have been a bit sparse lately. I have been taking some time off with my family, and will be continuing to do so until later in June 2009. I appreciate your patience. I have some timely news items to share in the interim, however.
IAM 250 Awards 
I am proud to announce that I have been named one of the IAM 250 for 2009. This award is given by IAM Magazine to those non-corporate IP Strategists judged by their peers as the leaders in IP Strategy. With Duncan Bucknell, Suzanne Harrison, Kevin Rivette, Andrew Watson and many others whom I respect greatly on the list, it is a great honor to appear on this inaugural list of the world's leaders in