Technology Management and Patent Intelligence
The rise in the number of patents owned by major players in the market facilitated the emergence of a number of tools and methods that can be used to aid in obtaining patent and technology intelligence, and hence aid in directing the innovation process. These methods can help in providing directions for the innovation portfolio and perfecting the design of the product under development.
Patent documents can be used as reservoirs of information that can be analyzed to assess the competitive position and expected competitive moves. The patenting history of a competitor reveals the technology road map they are following and provides insight as to future moves. Patent data analysis can also be used to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the competition's technological position. An examination of the file wrapper, for example, will reveal areas that the patentee agreed to limit and thus can provide guidance as to getting around a competitor's blocking patents. The most valuable intelligence that can be gained from patent data analysis is how the competition is reacting to the organization's own patenting activity. How does the competition get around the organization's patents? How often are they cited in the competition's patent applications? And what types of patents are the competition filing for that are built on the organization's patents?
For the innovation portfolio, this aids in revealing past patenting activities of the competition to decide areas where the organization can only design around existing patents (i.e., introduce incremental changes) and areas where they would have less competition. Patent citation trees can help management to find the parties who are applying for patents on improvements related to their own products, and thus incorporate in the portfolio projects for doing the same in relation to the competition's products. This will enhance the organization's bargaining power in negotiating cross-licenses if seeking a license is strategically required. In addition, patent visualization tools, which present a bird's-eye view of the patenting activity in a certain technological area, should be used in determining the areas where the organization will aim to develop next-generation and breakthrough products.
When it comes to perfecting the design of the product under development, it is important to thoroughly assess the design, which will be able to withstand competitive forces longer. Even though the organization can protect all possible product designs with IP, it should focus on the design that will be harder to replicate regardless. For example, when designing Gillette's Sensor shaver, the engineers came up with seven designs relating to how the twin blades can be mounted on the cartridge. To enable the choice of the best design, Gillette undertook a full patent analysis of all seven versions of the design, comparing them to the existing patents of the competition. Gillette chose the design that it believed competitors would have the most difficulty in getting around. Source
Patent documents can be used as reservoirs of information that can be analyzed to assess the competitive position and expected competitive moves. The patenting history of a competitor reveals the technology road map they are following and provides insight as to future moves. Patent data analysis can also be used to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the competition's technological position. An examination of the file wrapper, for example, will reveal areas that the patentee agreed to limit and thus can provide guidance as to getting around a competitor's blocking patents. The most valuable intelligence that can be gained from patent data analysis is how the competition is reacting to the organization's own patenting activity. How does the competition get around the organization's patents? How often are they cited in the competition's patent applications? And what types of patents are the competition filing for that are built on the organization's patents?
For the innovation portfolio, this aids in revealing past patenting activities of the competition to decide areas where the organization can only design around existing patents (i.e., introduce incremental changes) and areas where they would have less competition. Patent citation trees can help management to find the parties who are applying for patents on improvements related to their own products, and thus incorporate in the portfolio projects for doing the same in relation to the competition's products. This will enhance the organization's bargaining power in negotiating cross-licenses if seeking a license is strategically required. In addition, patent visualization tools, which present a bird's-eye view of the patenting activity in a certain technological area, should be used in determining the areas where the organization will aim to develop next-generation and breakthrough products.
When it comes to perfecting the design of the product under development, it is important to thoroughly assess the design, which will be able to withstand competitive forces longer. Even though the organization can protect all possible product designs with IP, it should focus on the design that will be harder to replicate regardless. For example, when designing Gillette's Sensor shaver, the engineers came up with seven designs relating to how the twin blades can be mounted on the cartridge. To enable the choice of the best design, Gillette undertook a full patent analysis of all seven versions of the design, comparing them to the existing patents of the competition. Gillette chose the design that it believed competitors would have the most difficulty in getting around. Source
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