Strategic Intellectual Property Solutions » IP strategy

Identify, Track and Evaluate All Innovations

Steve — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:48:24 +0000

Identifying innovations is an important step in generating, protecting and leveraging intellectual property assets. Innovations can help your business reduce expenses, create a competitive edge in the marketplace and increase revenue.

Innovation Disclosures. To be sure all innovations are identified in your company, implement an innovation disclosure program that allows all personnel to easily submit descriptions of their creative ideas. Each description should include the name of the individuals who developed the innovation, products or services that might benefit from the innovation and what steps have been taken to implement the idea.

Create a Simple System. Create a form or submission system that is fast and easy to use. The initial disclosure form should capture the key information necessary to determine the value of the innovation to the company. If a decision is made to leverage the innovation, additional information can be obtained at that time. A simple submission system will not be viewed as a burden by company personnel, and will likely result in documentation of more creative thoughts.

Tracking Innovations. Once submitted, use a tracking system to monitor the status of every disclosure submitted. This tracking system should identify deadlines, upcoming public disclosures and products or services that might benefit from the innovation.

Evaluation. Create a review committee to regularly evaluate disclosures and determine whether the innovation can be leveraged to advance the company’s business objectives. This review committee should include personnel from different groups within the company, such as research and development, marketing and manufacturing. These groups provide diverse views of how to best leverage innovations in the company in a manner that is consistent with the company’s goals.

Encourage all personnel to submit their creative thoughts for evaluation – and reward those activities. Every person in your company is a potential innovator. Start capturing and leveraging those creative ideas today to expand your business and build your intellectual property assets.

Types of Intellectual Property and How they Fit Into an IP Strategy

Steve — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:05:33 +0000

When developing an Intellectual Property Strategy, it is important to understand the different types of intellectual property (IP) assets and how they are applied to business activities. This article provides an overview of several types of IP assets.

Copyright – Provides a legal right to exclude others from publishing, selling, or distributing a literary or artistic work. Copyright protection applies to specific expressions of an idea, but not to abstract ideas themselves. Consider copyright protection for books, articles, manuscripts, music, artwork and computer software.
Trademark – Applies to a word, design, logo, picture, slogan, or other symbol used to identify a source of products or services. A trademark is typically identified using a TM, SM, or ® notation. The ® symbol designates a Federally Registered Trademark (registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office). Companies commonly use trademarks to protect their company name, advertising slogans and corporate logos/identifiers.
Trade Secret – Business information that is subject to reasonable efforts by the business to keep the information confidential. This information has value to the company because it is not generally known in the marketplace. Examples include recipes, formulas, customer lists, marketing plans and manufacturing techniques.
Patent – A grant by the government to an inventor. The inventor has the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention. Three general types of patents include utility patents, design patents and plant patents. Utility patents are useful in protecting the functional aspects of a product or process. A design patent protects the ornamental design of a product. Plant patents protect new varieties of living plants. Consider patent protection for products, methods, computer software, manufacturing processes and chemical compounds.

These different types of intellectual property offer varying levels of protection and distinct procedures necessary to protect the IP asset. A successful Intellectual Property Strategy considers each type of IP asset and leverages IP assets that are appropriate for the particular company and consistent with the company’s goals.

Intellectual Property Strategy Tips

Steve — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:34:40 +0000

An effective Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy can support your business by increasing revenue, providing a competitive advantage in your market and increasing valuation. An Intellectual Property Strategy can also position your business as an “innovator”, which can attract customers, top employees and top contractors.

Based on your business objectives (both short-term and long-term), develop an IP Strategy that specifically addresses those business objectives. If a business objective is to expand into a new market, your IP Strategy may include looking for unmet needs in that new market and developing innovative solutions in meet those needs. Protecting those innovations will strengthen your position in that new market.

To generate additional business revenue, consider licensing existing Intellectual Property or creating new Intellectual Property assets that can be licensed or sold. Consider the use of brainstorming sessions and innovation contests to create new Intellectual Property assets within your company. Define a system for identifying, documenting and evaluating all innovations developed during these brainstorming sessions and innovation contests.

Review your IP Strategy regularly to evaluate the success of the strategy and to be certain the strategy remains consistent with your business objectives.

Every Business Needs an Intellectual Property Strategy

Steve — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:51:23 +0000

Many people believe that intellectual property is reserved for high-tech companies and businesses with research labs. However, a well-designed intellectual property strategy can benefit any type of business, regardless of industry, business size or business location. Properly leveraged intellectual property can:

Provide a Competitive Edge
Increase Revenue
Attract Capital Investments
Increase Company Valuation
Attract Top Employees and Contractors
Position a Business as an “Innovator”
Create a “Team Environment”

Many businesses that are not considered “high-tech companies” leverage innovations and intellectual property to strengthen their business. Examples include banks, insurance companies, financial services companies and businesses that manufacture products. Intellectual property may include methods of doing business, internal business procedures, manufacturing processes as well as specific products that are developed and/or manufactured. Identifying innovations that streamline an internal business procedure or enhance a manufacturing process can lead to significant cost savings and improved operating efficiencies, which will strengthen your company.

Regardless of your company’s industry or size, look for intellectual property and innovations that can be leveraged to benefit your business.

Intellectual Property Strategy Blog

Steve — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:01:59 +0000

This web site is a resource for anyone interested in learning more about leveraging innovations and Intellectual Property (IP) to maximize their business. We will be discussing topics related to innovations and intellectual property. Sample topics include identifying, evaluating and protecting intellectual property. We will also discuss ideas for creating intellectual property and commercializing IP assets. Future posts will discuss specific ways for companies to leverage their innovations and intellectual property to increase revenue, create a competitive edge, attract capital investments and more.

We welcome comments on any of our posts. Also, feel free to ask questions and suggest topics for future posts.