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ABSTRACT

This paper provides insight to a company’s Intellectual Property (IP) Group leaders, about cultivating original ideas for patents internally (aka organically). This is as opposed to a company buying a patent portfolio from outside sources.

This information is useful for any enterprise with a small patent portfolio who wants to expand it from talent that is available from inside the organization.

The creative techniques that we explain here are relatively easy to implement. There is also the added benefit of using the IP Group to put product development staff members in “creative mode” and have fun doing it.

We have arranged this internally creative program roadmap so that an IP Group can use it over the long term. In addition, as it matures, the IP Group may expand it to add other internal creative groups to its scope.

INTRODUCTION

The best place to start cultivating patents internally is with product development staff. But it is also possible that other internal groups may help contribute to patent ideas if they are developing something new or improved. You may refer to these to as “points of innovation”.

Most points of innovation may apply to novel products or services, but they can also come from internal business process improvements. Basically, these are any things that a company may use to improve their competitive position.

In effect, a company develops a process to “mine” Intellectual Property from developmental activities. For the purposes of this paper, we will refer to this as “Patent Mining”.

Normally, a company’s IP Group handles Patent Mining and sponsors various techniques to continue it. This paper reviews several techniques that an IP Group may use to make Patent Mining an organizational reality.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product Development means vastly different things, not only to different people, but also to different organizations.  The very nature of one’s business defines many attributes of what Development means on a day-to-day basis.

A few examples:

• To a marketing services company Development can mean the work-product they provide to their next client.
• To a think-tank, Development means the next solution proposal that they draft to solve a customer’s problem.
• To a manufacturer, Development means everything from a product concept to the production techniques (and all the stuff in between) that they create to mass produce that product and make it competitive in the marketplace.

Given all these views as to what development means, it comes as no surprise that programs that they apply to enhance the development process are seldom “generic”.

Even for organizations in the same industry, corporate culture often defines the development process, and it even varies between project teams within the same enterprise.

PATENT MINING

The process of gleaning IP from the creative people who are spearheading product development is tricky at best. In addition, it is even more difficult to support using only a “policy”.

These factors ultimately force every organization to seriously consider custom Patent Mining solutions when organically building an IP portfolio.

Among the various ways to address this issue, the most popular approach is to “put up a mirror” and use the staff members themselves to help define their possible contributions to IP.

Within functional groups, the IP Group often starts the patent mining process by “kicking off” during an introductory meeting to set up some basic rules and goals. These meetings are internally creative. We are searching for novelty from within the organization, not from outside sources.

However, even when a meeting leader expertly applies creative techniques, the participants may view it as just another interruption with no payback coming soon. For the meeting leader, this can be like a comedian facing a “tough room”, no laughs. That’s about it. Does the word “magic” come to mind?

In many ways, people do regard patent mining from the creative process as magic. It simply just happens. You can’t direct it, much less harness it.

Of course, if every corporate leader today believed that to be totally true, there would be a lot fewer patents filed every year, IBM’s patent list would be on one sheet of paper, and Toyota would make the same model cars every year. Obviously, this is not the case.

CREATIVE PROCESS

To succeed, the magic of the creative process must be set aside and replaced (at least temporarily) with a repeatable process, then supported by development staff. The team must do all of this while keeping their interest levels as close to 100% as possible.

The real key is to somehow impart the excitement of developing a huge IP portfolio to your creative talent. These are a group of people who are primarily interested in developing a product or service as quickly as possible and seeing it through to completion.

In effect, the IP documentation process associated with patent mining interferes with each developer’s path to the achievement of goals. That’s what makes it a tough room when trying to convince a group to squeeze in enough resources for the extra tasks involved.

Without being able to communicate the reasoning behind strong IP, specifically why it’s needed, what it can do for the developer, and how much it means to the organization’s success, the effort will languish. In other words, it will simply stall.

This is where a leader’s strongly focused communication skills are most important. Initially, there won’t be much time to get the point across, maybe less than 3 minutes.

What’s the point of the urgency? Basically, this is not some new management fad to try out. The cold fact is, in today’s marketplace, a company without strong IP is an accident waiting to happen, especially a public company. Don’t patch that leak, everyone suffers.

ESTABLISHING INCENTIVES

Now, the challenge becomes how to communicate this reality to a group of developers, and quickly. Not through threats or fear but getting back to clearly communicating an answer to the question “What’s in it for Me?” up front.

You must do this directly, because nobody’s really going to ask on their own.

A meeting leader’s first impulse is often to start reviewing the company’s business plan goals. This includes how a strong IP portfolio is important to the company, etc.

Unfortunately, most employees don’t readily correlate their own situation to your business plan. Especially if management makes it a normal practice to only share a little of the plan.

Some meeting leaders offer a reward (something like $800.00 cash) for the “best idea”. Now let’s make a list; we can pick the best idea as a basis for our next patent application. Greed is something developers don’t like to show off. Such lists are often quite short.

This challenge can go on and on but work on it! Yor your organization must find a solution to this important issue.

Consider this or a similar way to start by using existing resources:

• Have your IP Group work with Human Resources to apply some of the current incentives to inventions.
• If this sounds reasonable, be sure to make the changes early in the development process.

OBTAINING AGREEMENT

You can also try something like using this type of dialogue during a presentation:

Anybody know why I’m here with your team today?  [group answers] No, not quite, but we keep getting beat by company XYZ and the boss is tired of it.  What do you think we can do? [group answers].

Well, it’s a given that we can come up with better products, but what if “Company X” just copies them? [group answers] Did you ever think of using IP to slow Company X down?  [group answers] Right, that’s why I’m here with your team today.

From that point on, the team will understand that threats come from specific competitors; it is important that we use legal means to slow them down, and that it is critical that we work as a team to address the threat.

There is also no better team motivator than a common adversary.

Now the process of using IP from a competitive perspective can begin. Get agreement from the team for the best way to continue. Then be sure to feed it back to confirm that their approach is going to follow the consensus.

GETTING STARTED

During this first meeting, follow the agreed process and walk-through enough ideas to define enough tangible concepts to support a solution diagram (system, process, flow, etc.).

Limit the meeting duration to 1-2 hours and schedule a follow up meeting to clarify and add to the results.  In advance of the next meeting, be sure to distribute minutes and a rough draft of the concepts that are eligible for consideration for formal IP documentation.

At the next meeting quickly review the basic questions like “Why am I here with your team today?” and “Do you know how we are going to use our IP to slow Company X down?” Then, the team should quickly review the new ideas that they counted and distributed.

Go over today’s agenda and be sure to expand on the ideas that are currently “on the plate”.  Remember, everyone has had time to think about it and there will always be more to add. Be sure to note the body language of the team members; it is best to address underlying concerns that the team notes at this stage.

Allow for a creative discussion and be sure to reinforce “What’s in it for Me” by going over any incentive plans the company has in place for inventions and new ideas.

It is important at this point to make sure that everyone understands the importance of:

• Gaining competitive advantage
• Receiving financial rewards
• Feeling the personal pride of appearing having one’s name permanently appear on a patent document.

CONTINUING THE PROCESS

Note:  The IP Group should recognize these reinforcement items at follow-up meetings because development staff considers inventive sessions interruptions, no matter what. The IP Group should always revisit areas that enhance the fundamental staff motivations.

Once you have used a series of meetings to yield enough material to set up documented IP, it is best to break up the concept refinements into individual responsible inventors or small inventive groups. It is NOT good to have the same team listed repeatedly on patent disclosures.

Arrange things so that the inventor lists on each patent disclosure as varied and short as possible. That way, the staff can share the rewards, and the number of claims will be reasonable. You will also be able to limit claim ambiguity, making them more compatible with Patent Office requirements.

For example, if there is a choice of filing 2 patents with 40 claims each or 5 patents with 15 claims each, the latter is always best. The claims will be more focused on specific areas, and the number of inventors listed on each patent will be manageable (4 or less is ideal).

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS

Next, try expanding the groups to include cross-functional teams. Include people from groups like Marketing, Project Management, Engineering and Development. Follow the same general steps and make sure there is agreement on how to continue.

Please note that the most effective process for a cross-functional team will vary from that of a narrowly focused development team.

The nature of the IP will also be different with Trademarks and Copyrights thrown into the mix along with the patents. Management can also introduce each product’s revenue contribution data.

Management insight will help provide insight into the effect of competition on product success. Management participation also shows that staff participation in these areas is important, and that management will recognize the work.

You should repeat the patent mining process in advance of each major product or service introduction. Be sure that interruptions do not weigh on the teams. Communicate clearly and often with the groups about the ongoing progress of building the IP portfolio.

PROCESS FOCUS

Below is a diagram of the process areas that take part in setting up a Patent Mining program in an enterprise. The information previously covered involves active participation in the areas shown on the diagram.

Of course, if IP issues expand enough to require the participation of more groups, the process interactions will increase accordingly.

• Project Backlog
• Product Developmemt
• Sales and Marketing
• Project Management
• Product Revenue List

CONCLUSION

Establishing a Patent Mining process is one of the best ways for a company to capture their “organic innovation” directly from internal resources.

By setting up the right incentives, getting agreement from staff members, and staying with the process, the IP Group can develop an essential resource to protect a company’s IP. This is an important asset for any enterprise