One of the insights received from discussions and meetings with investors seems to be that the value of legal protection on IP is not always obvious.
Introduction
One of the insights received from discussions and meetings with investors seems to be that the value of legal protection on IP is not always obvious.
First thing to assume before trying to define this value is that in modern countries, a competition can sometimes be a tough thing, but it is a probably fundamental component in the business environment we have. Patents are controlled means existing in our business environment for fostering the competition rather than suppressing it. In US even the Constitution empowers the Congress to secure authors and Inventors by establishing a patent system
So, in order to refine the insight above in the light of the competition element assumed to exist in business environments, the suggested issue to address might be: How patents can become assets which serve me in a competitive environment.
The Art of War
In order to start exploring some answers for the above, the angle presented by Sun Tzu which wrote the "The Art of War" can be considered as a starting point of the discussion, since military campaigns take the competition to the extreme of life and death. Sun Tzu whom had a clear insight on military campaigns claimed that the military force and the ability to conduct a strong warfare are tools sovereign states have in order to expand the opportunities in the statesmanship field. This bright insight can be leveraged by suggesting that similar to warfare and statesmanship, the legal protection a company has, can become a tool to expand the opportunities in the business field.
“Successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict”
In similarity to military campaigns, patent strategy should have the potential of limiting the cost of the competition and conflicts. On a practical level, during the discussion with the inventors on their invention specifications, the requirement to define the boundaries of the potential conflicts, should play a basic role.
The Patent Scope & the Invention Specification
Adhering with the ideas of Sun Tzu, the inventor may be required to adopt a strategy that maximizes the optional ways of his or her invention implementations in the future, even ways that cannot be seen today. The challenge in hand is that the future is unknown and defendable issues should last decades from now. Furthermore, nobody knows about the development being done by other entrants, and sometimes these entrants are even unknown. Two overarching guidelines are suggested in order to develop the appropriate strategy:
1) Take the broaden look possible in the patent disclosure and the corresponding explanation of what was invented and how it works. Don’t take anything for granted and open your invention to a number of optional implementations in the future.
2) Maximize the boundaries of the legal protection provided to the patentee and ensure it is aligned with your business purposes. The patent should provide you with a suitable legal protection coverage which should last multiple years. In other words, the inventor doesn’t need to sit in product owner cockpit and receive the sight he or she gets to see. The inventor wants to receive the sight of the potential opponents and protect the company from optional ways which may be utilized to sneak around in order to get to a lead.
The Competitors
One of the important advices which can be used as some provisions is that the patentees of your opponents are good at least as yours. Patents are business and traded assets, and if that so, looking into opponent’s assets and identify ways to win is not an imaginary concept or a far–fetched option. If you take into consideration that your opponent’s probably use diverse search methods in order to find prior arts and to identify every risk blocking their way to the big win, do pay attention to your patents’ specifications. The ideal patent should avoid conflicts and save your time and budget. Simple formulation of the above can be that the ideal situation is that reading the patents of your company should be enough to stop potential opponents from becoming to be your competitors. Or, in some cases, your patents may open the door for optional business partnership. A partnership is sometime suggested when a free competition is not an option.
Summary
Patents should be utilized to appropriate the value from the innovation. The main objectives of patents are not to merely reflect the product capabilities or to glorify the inventors. Patents should represent the broadest look possible of the invention and provide the legal protection required for the business activities which are enabled by the invention. The ideal patent portfolio should reduce the cost of the competition by limiting the number of the options which the competitors have. In addition, patent portfolio should be utilized as an asset that supports the business in a number of options along the way. Filing a patent, is just the first step in this way.
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