Getting patents does not mean you understand, respect, or value intellectual property.  In fact, chances are you spend a lot of time and resources acquiring intellectual property, but don’t think much about why or what you are going to do with it once you have it.

You have taken the time to protect your innovation.  Now what are you going to do with your intellectual property?

As I run my business, most of the time I find it’s not the ‘what’ I am after. I know that I should be doing ‘x’ or ‘y’. What I am really looking for is ‘how’ to implement ‘x’ and ‘y’ and make them work in my business. Even in today’s internet age, where the answer to everything just seems to be a click away, it is hard to find ‘how’.

There’s a reason most of us don’t do the things that the gurus say, or fail at them, and the reason is: most of us don’t know how to do them. Either we’re dumb and don’t understand what the experts are telling us or no one has ever taught us or showed us how to do it.

There’s a lot of what and why out there, but not a lot of how.  To combat this, I will try to add more ‘how’ to my posts this year.  And if anyone can tell me how someone gets 5,000+ twitter followers without sending a single tweet, please let me know.

This is the first time since founding my business in 2009 that I have put together a detailed plan for IP in focus with well-defined goals.  It’s not that I didn’t plan before, but my goals were more amorphous, less specific, than my current goals.  Let’s just say the business has evolved and that I have big plans for the next 12 months.

On the business side of things, I will be more focused on IP strategy and management coaching and consulting services, and less on providing legal services.  In fact, I will try really hard not to take on new ‘legal’ clients.  Keep your eyes open for some new program launches, one geared to law firms and one to entrepreneurs and start-ups.  As I try to delve into technology a little deeper, there should be webinars (or podcasts or something like that) as well as video content on the horizon, too.

On the blog side, are you ready for more IP management and strategy solutions?  I hope that you have taken my advice and gotten to know your client(s) in 2011.  Perhaps I sounded like a broken record as I implored you to get to know your client’s business better, but I cannot stress enough how important that knowledge is to true IP management success.  A lot of what I will be talking about in 2012 won’t do you much good if you haven’t taken that first step.

I will continue to post about IP management and strategy issues about once a week.  My blogging goal for 2012 is to use my posts to walk you through the various aspects of my IP Management program.  By the end of 2012, I hope to touch upon each of the 12 aspects of IP Management, and provide you with real solutions to your IP management needs.

I look forward to sharing what I know and what I learn with you in 2012.

I am excited today too.  My husband has been away since Sunday at a Sales meeting in Arizona and his flight is due to touch down at any minute.  When he gets home, a brand new home office will be waiting for him.  New paint, curtains, and furniture.  I filled it with mementos and pictures of our family.  I know he’s going to love his Christmas/Birthday present.  (He has the unfortunate birthdate of December 26th.)

Wherever you are, whatever Holiday you celebrate, I hope all of you are experiencing the joy and excitement that this time of year brings.  I hope you are able to enjoy a wonderful Holiday season with those you love.  Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!  See you in 2012!!

Waiting for Santa

Let me start by saying, I am not for bogus patent law suits.  A company should never sue another company using bogus patent threats.  But if a company does infringe an existing patent, should it matter who owns the patent?

There aren’t many fans of NPEs, hence the nickname, ‘Patent Trolls’.  People don’t like the idea that a patent owner that doesn’t make the patented invention has the right to sue a company that does make a product that might be embodying the patented invention.  The primary argument against NPEs is the notion that the purpose of the patent system is ‘to promote the useful arts and sciences’ (as stated in the US Constitution) and increase innovation.  Increased innovation means a better society.  Patent trolls stifle innovation when they bring law suits against ‘real’ businesses because the money that would otherwise be spent on innovation goes to the lawsuit, damages, and/or licensing fees.

To some degree that argument is correct.  Innovation is stifled when patents are used to exclude other companies from practicing the patented invention.  But then again, isn’t that the purpose of the patent?  There is a difference between the long-term purpose of the patent system (further innovation and society) and the short-term purpose of the patent.  The US Government gives patent owners the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented invention for the life of the patent.  Well, how does one exclude others?  The patent owner sues a suspected infringer for patent infringement.  If the patent owner doesn’t want to fully-exclude others, he can seek a license or give away his patent rights, e.g. open source software.  Alternatively, a patent owner could do nothing about patent infringement.  Ultimately, it is up to the patent owner to decide what he, she, or it wants to do with their business asset.

In the short term, patents are designed to give a patent owner (inventor, corporate entity, or troll) a 20 year monopoly in the patented invention.  There is little restriction on who can by or sell a patent.  There is no requirement that the patent owner has to make, use, or sell a product embodying the patented invention in the United States.  So, should it matter whether the entity doing the excluding is an NPE or a Practicing Entity?

NPEs aren’t cheating the system.  Nothing they’re doing is illegal per se.  (Again, I would never support any one bringing bogus patent suits.)  I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of companies that use patents to do nothing but sue companies for profit.  It creates an unlevel playing field, and that is scary, but not necessarily wrong.

There are two Sun Tzu quotes that actually hang on the bulletin board in my office.  They speak to how I view intellectual property, and the mission of my company, IP in focus.

1.  “If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.”  I guess this quote is the opposite of the often-voiced quote “Ignorance is bliss.”  Let’s be honest.  Ignorance is only bliss until what you don’t know bites you in the behind.  What you don’t know can hurt you.  What you choose to ignore can cost you literally and figuratively.  (Google, the multi-billion dollar patent auctions, and the purchase of Motorola Mobile for $12.5 billion are great examples that come to mind.)  This quote reminds me that IP owners must actively manage risk as part of a comprehensive intellectual property strategy.

Risk can come in many forms.  Your competitors, employees, contractors, vendors, strategic partners, and outsourced manufacturers are all sources of potential risk.  At any given time, one or more of these groups can be the ‘enemy’.   You must understand your enemy and the risk your enemy presents to you, then take steps to reduce your exposure to that risk.   Without this understanding, you can’t possibly have a strategy that meets your business needs.  Without a meaningful strategy that takes into account your risk, your intellectual property rights are certain to be in peril.

2.  “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory.  Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”  So many bad tactics, so little strategy!  Having an IP strategy doesn’t do you any good if you don’t know how to make decisions.  Making decisions in a vacuum doesn’t help your company achieve its business goals.  When you have too much of one and not enough of the other, the only thing you can rely on is luck or your war chest to bail you out.  You must have tactics that make it possible to achieve the goals set forth in your strategy.

The mission of IP in focus is to make sure that our clients have the tactics they need to implement their intellectual property strategy, and achieve IP success.  Remember that what determines success is different for every organization.  However, I strongly believe that success lies in the intellectual property holder’s ability to conquer their enemy.

With that in mind, I will leave you with one more quote from Sun Tzu to ponder.

“In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.”  - Sun Tzu

So, the rank-and-file employees take their cues from the company’s leaders. If your organization has the benefit of a strong leader, then the odds increase that what the leader thinks is important will also be important to the employees. Think Bill Gates at Microsoft, Steve Jobs at Apple, Jeff Bezos at Amazon.com, or Tony Hsieh at Zappos.com. Each one is an example of a strong leaders who set the tone for his company’s deep-seated culture and values.

This principle holds true for intellectual property too. If the company’s leaders understand and value intellectual property, the odds are pretty good that the employees of the company will too. In fact, to be successful with intellectual property management, an organization must have a culture where IP is valued by its employees, and not just a few employees who are paid to care about it, but by everyone in the organization. In order to create that culture, the company’s management must make it clear that they care about intellectual property. They need to set the rules and communicate those rules to the employees.

Creating a meaningful culture takes time and effort. How can an organization create a pro-IP culture? Here are a few suggestions to begin developing your IP culture.

1. Establish an intellectual property policy for the organization that spells out the rules. The Human Resources department should instruct all new hires about the policy and what is expected.

2. Regular intellectual property education is an important way to continue to get the message out that your organization takes IP seriously.

3. Any IP success, be it a new patent or a licensing deal, should be communicated to the extent possible with the employees.

4. The IP Policy must be enforced. Otherwise, employees will feel free to ignore the rules.

Does your organization have a culture that values intellectual property? If not, why not?

In the spirit of the holiday coming up in the United States on Thursday, I’d just like to say a big “THANK YOU” to all of my readers and subscribers.  I am so grateful that you take a little time each week to read what I write.  I have seen a huge increase in the number of people viewing my blog over the past 6 months, and I would like to think that increase is due to the content.  I hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  I hope that you have learned something about intellectual property, and that something brings you back for more.

I have learned a great deal about myself by writing this blog this year.   One blogging lesson in particular: Writing a blog is easy.  Putting together meaningful content is hard.  While I strive to get one post up every Monday, I have learned that I can’t just throw anything up on the blog to fill space.  The post must be worth reading.

Through this process of reading, writing, and growing a business, I have reaffirmed that I am passionate about the topic of IP strategy and management.  I look forward to providing you with more information and meaningful content that will help your organization better manage its IP assets.

Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It’s a short look at a matter involving a friend and a literary agent’s contract.  In short, the terms of the contract were unacceptable and the agent’s attitude when confronted with this fact was, in my humble opinion, outrageous.  If you know anyone who is in the creative arts and is seeking an agent, or any agents, you might want to have them read the article.  The take away from the article is: ’Make sure you know what you are signing up for before you sign on the dotted line!’

I remember reading somewhere about how entrepreneurs influence the culture of their start-ups.  Two guys found a company.  Each contributes 50% to the culture of the business.  If you are successful, you start hiring more employees, soon you have 5 employees.  Now each employee contributes 20% of the culture of the business.  What happens to the organization’s culture when you hit 100 employees or 1000?  The original culture morphs and shifts as the number of people who influence the organization grows and changes, unless you have a strong, influential leader who controls the ‘culture’, like Steve Jobs.

In my experience working with larger companies, a similar thing happens with IP.

In small organizations, especially start-ups, everyone has a stake in whether or not the company has their innovation and reputation protected.  Everyone has their hands on the IP.   It’s tangible and it’s important to everyone.  It might be the only real asset in your business.  But, as businesses scale up, fewer people have a direct connection to the organization’s IP, making it vulnerable to mismanagement.

As companies grow, fewer and fewer people have a personal relationship with the IP.  The problem becomes serious in very large organizations with large portfolios where IP is ‘institutionalized’ and ‘compartmentalized’.  The intellectual
property resides in a department usually separate from the rest of the business.  (See my blog post about that here.)  Systems and processes are put in place for the capturing and protecting of an organization’s intellectual property that become less personal and more transactional.

The process usually looks something like this.  An Inventor files an invention disclosure form.  The IP Manager reviews it and tells the patent attorney to write up a patent application and file it with the Patent Office.  The inventor gets a patent award payment.  The unfortunate reality for many large companies is that in the end, the only people with a stake in the game are the inventor and the patent attorney.  If a patent has a 20 year life, who remembers a 15 year old patent?  I would say that in a majority of cases only 1, the inventor.

The numbers go up, but where’s the ‘why’ in this process?  More importantly, where’s the VALUE?  Intellectual property is an important business asset that must be treated as such.  When IP is reduced to a mere transaction in a laundry list of ‘to dos’, it is nearly impossible to extract value from those assets.  Large organizations need to get back to a place where everyone cares about the company’s intellectual assets.  It all goes back to knowing why.