Patent Law Practice Center

Institute Live Blog: Global Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios

During the afternoon session, we will be breaking out into three groups: Prosecution, Litigation and Strategic & Transactional.  I’ve decided to sit in on the Strategic & Transactional discussion.  Marian Underwiser of  IBM Corporation will be discussing global strategies for managing and policing patent portfolios.

Invention Management –

1. Not just managing a collection of patents, need to consider all facets of Intellectual Property Lifecycle. 
2. It’s informed by corporate objectives –  What does the company need from its patent portfolio?  Why & how are inventions generated? What industries are most relevant? What is the market strategy? Who are the competitors?
3. A team sport – requires active participation from all parts of the company
4. A moving target – requires constant refinement and evolution

Leveraging IP for Business Value – IP rights are extremely powerful.  How do I make money on my IP in an area like open source?  Need to think strategically about your patents.  What services can I add on top of my platform. Building a service line on top of open source.  as you look at development of inventions, the flexibility of patent right allows you to use the patent right where you don’t think it’s even possible – can give you leverage as to where the development goes.  You need to be very connected to your business to figure out how to do that. (more…)