Three barriers to growing your patent program
We often draw a parallel between the complexities of winemaking and building a patent program. Yes, we like wine. But, the analogy is that both are part science, part love, and a whole lot of effort. And, like the consumer who pulls a bottle of wine off the shelf, most in an organisation only see the end result (a patent or portfolio) without fully understanding or appreciating all the pieces that needed to work in harmony to generate it.
Here are three barriers we often see when it comes to building or enhancing a patent program. There are, of course, others. But, if you can get in front of these early on you’ll realise a smoother path towards meeting your objectives and generating value.
Ambiguous ownership: For a function in an organisation that doesn’t necessarily bring a lot of glory, it’s surprising the number of groups that want to have ownership of IP creation. We’ve seen the function anchored in Legal, R&D, Innovation, Marketing, Operations, Corporate Strategy, and a variety of other areas. Of course, where you base the function in your organisation depends on a number of factors such as what business you operate in, what resources you have available, and what your program objectives are. That said, we are advocates for Legal being the de facto owners of the program and then creating clear lines to the business areas as to their role, how they will contribute, and what support they’ll need.
Unclear value: If you’re an established IP practitioner, you’ve certainly been asked “what value are we getting from our portfolio?” If you are new to the function, you should expect this question. At some point, an executive will ask how the firm is benefitting from the investments being made in generating patents and why it should continue to do so. This is especially true in business areas which may be less litigious or don’t necessarily have a lineage tied to patent development.
The truth is, the answer to this question will evolve as your portfolio and program grow. However, you should always be thinking about this question and have messaging prepared. Think of it as part of your elevator pitch for what your group / program does. For instance, if you are just building your program, the value messaging may be simply be “we protect ideas which reduce our business risk and secure potential futures in key product and service areas.” Of course, this is one of the core reasons we build patent portfolios. However, always take the opportunity to reaffirm the message confidently and demonstrate the mission is clear to you (because it may not be for everyone) . As your portfolio expands, you can layer in other benefits, whether actual monetary value through licensing or ownership of key market segments because of intentional patent development.
Impatience (time): Patent programs involve long time cycles. There is just no way around it. Even if you are able to stand up a program quickly with adequate resources, you are still captive to time it takes to move from an idea to a patent — which is likely the better part of several years. Given the pace at which business and technology move today, it can be hard to stay the course with a program that requires substantial investment and resources but doesn’t provide that immediate feedback we have become accustomed to.
In addition to the number of patent apps and grants, there are a variety of other quantitative and qualitative indicators you can use to tell more real time stories about your program. For instance, total number of ideas generated across different business areas, conversion rate of ideas to applications, inventor community growth, spotlight on patent supported products, IP used vendor negotiations, etc. The key is to build momentum and a cadence of “wins” that you can point to on a regular basis so you can build the support needed for long-term investment.
What other barriers or challenges have you experienced in building your program? What approaches have you put into place that helped alleviate them?