5 things to ponder for your company as you enter 2009
Okay, so everyone takes this time of year to reflect, set goals and make changes. And maybe I am just jumping on the band wagon but, I really feel that this is a message that needs to get out. This is the top 5 things that I share with all my clients and, this is what I do for a living – I am very passionate about it. This may seem simple but I just don’t think that most technology companies really sit down and consider these issues. DON’T let your most valuable assets and opportunities slip away. Building IP is an investment in your future, it is your technology realty.
So, please take a moment and ponder these 5 strategies and if it makes sense, apply them in 2009. You may not see any immediate results but just like exercise and eating right, this is the correct road to travel and it will lead to a great destination.
(1) Don’t set a goal for a number of patents filed, set a goal for the number of inventions to be generated and then, pick and choose which ones to file for patent protection.
This can be quite a motivate-sucking maneuver for your engineers and innovators. These folks are your greatest assets and they are smart. They see through the horse-apples and don’t want to be bothered by trying to get patents on bogus junk just to meet some management WAG for how many patents should be filed in a year. And furthermore, it is a waste of your time and resources. But, you can set up a program in which your innovators are rewarded by submitting their innovative ideas to help encourage them to come forward.
Submitting an idea is much less taxing than supporting the filing of a patent application. Setting a goal for the number of inventions to be identified is quite reasonable – a simple three to five sentence submission may be all that is required of your innovators. Who wouldn’t do that for a chance to get some walking-around money in their pocket?
Now, once the innovative ideas are received, you can then analyze, prioritize and choose what inventions should be protected, what should be published as a defensive move, and what should be held as a trade secret.
(2) Don’t focus on patenting products, patent innovation. Much innovation is unused in pushing a product out the door-innovation your competitors may use.
I spent 13 years in technology companies and I know that a lot of innovation is edited out during the development process. Once marketing and sales go through the functional specification, once management looks at the budget, once the customers provide feedback, great innovations that were part of the original plan get cut out. But, just because today is not the season to include such technology in your products, don’t forget that tomorrow may be.
So, if you don’t protect the innovation today, your competitors may get the jump on you. Wrapping up the protection of innovation before it is ripe for deployment is the optimal situation. The time lost by crunching through the patent process for ripe technology is not a factor for growing technology. How ideal is it to have a patent issue just about the time that your innovation becomes the technology norm!
(3) Re-evaluate your incentive program. It is a bad economy – make it work for you by creatively encouraging your employees/innovators to build you assets.
It is a bad economy – make it work for you by creatively encouraging your employees/innovators to build you assets There is nothing more to be said here other than to direct you to my previous blog posting – “Bad Economy Benefits your IP Portfolio” at http://mindminer.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/bad-economy-benefits-your-ip-portfolio/
(4) Spend your budgeted dollars wisely – evaluate your foreign filing practices by applying the 10-10 rule. (see blog http://mindminer.wordpress.com/)
What is the 10-10 rule? My rule of thumb is that if 10% of your revenue is generated in a particular country, it may make sense to file but, only if your total revenue in that country would be at least 10 times the cost of the patent. Thus, if the quote is $10K for a foreign patent, your revenue from that country should at least be $100K to simply cross the threshold point of considering to file in that country. I have a more complete analysis in the blog entitled “When does it make sense to file for foreign patent protection?”
(5) Look at buying IP assets. In a down market, companies may be very willing to sell IP assets that could be valuable to your company.
This is such an overlooked tactic that can be so greatly beneficial in a down economy. IP assets are realty. Today is a buyers market. If you do proper patent searching anyway, you will identify some really great IP assets that are either pending or already patented. Certainly, your competitor is not the best store to shop in but, there are so many individual inventors that seek patent protection but don’t know what to do from there. You can pick up some very valuable assets for cheap. This is especially true if the assets are pending applications.
So there you have it, the best advice that I give to my clients and you just got it for free. I challenge you to take 15 minutes this week and really ponder these points and how you can apply them to your business. Remember, every step you take is on a path that leads somewhere. To borrow some of Andy Stanley’s intellectual property from one of his sermons, consider these five points in view of these statements:
There is never an immediate, realizable result by NOT doing something that you should do (that is why it is so easy to miss a workout)
There is never an immediate, realizable result by taking a necessary step you need to take to reach your goal (that is why it is easy to get discouraged from working out)
You can’t cram for life, you can’t make up the lost ground over night (you can’t work out for 24 hours straight to make up for the lost time)
Gregory Scott Smith, www.lavagrouplaw.com – gsmith@lavagrouplaw.com
