IP Strategy

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest" - Benjamin Franklin.

Intellectual Property is an investment, therefore as the saying goes nothing pays off more thaneducating yourself i.e. research, study and analyse before making investment. On the similarlines we invest in Intellectual Property so that one can enjoy the monopoly, therefore research,study and analysis is required.
"CEOs must now be able to formulate strategies that capitalize on and maximize the value of theircompany's intellectual property assets to drive growth, innovation and cooperative relationships withother companies" - Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates 2004

Operability : whether the operation of claims tend to infringe the claims of other patents-operability, etc.

Corporate strategy: it is especially important to make IP as part of the corporate strategy to gain andmaintain competitive advantage, decrease wasteful investment, and maximize opportunity.

R&D sensitization: The R&D team should be able to at least be aware of the current status ofthe technology so that prior art search is fruitful and a pace of constant generation is maintained.The team should be constantly trained in order to develop their basic acumen towards IP. A wellsensitized R&D has been found to identify the gaps in the technology and modify thetechnology. In this way wasteful research is minimized and constant fruitful research isprovided.

Protecting IP: IP should be identified and protected at its initial stage, which allows thecorporate to monopolize and exploit the market due to its ability to implement the process orproduct faster than its competitors. Protection should be in synchronisation with the corporatestrategy of expansion, so that new market or licensing opportunities is tapped. The protectionshould not always be offensive but defensive filing should also be done in order to block thegrowth of the competitors.

Monetizing IP assets: The ultimate for any IP asset is revenue generation. Therefore, aneffective IP portfolio should be created that allows the corporate to maximize revenuegeneration by creating monopoly and goodwill. There could be various means such as licensing,cross licensing, joint ventures, selling off etc.