Patent management involves obtaining and maintaining patents, requiring technical, legal, and commercial skills. The USPTO receives over 5,000 patent applications weekly, and patent management varies by environment. Patent management companies offer analysis and commercialization assistance, and agreements place responsibility for obtaining, maintaining, and maximizing patents on the company. Patent management is becoming increasingly important as technological progress increases.
The main objective of patent management is obtaining and maintaining patents. This process involves various technical, legal and commercial skills. Identifying, developing and evaluating the technology involved in a given patent naturally requires a certain amount of technical knowledge. Legal expertise is often helpful, but not required, to complete and maintain a patent application. Ultimately, maximizing patent profits is the responsibility of business. While numerous professionals are often involved in obtaining and maintaining patents, it is also possible for the individual inventor to do the work himself. However, this is less likely a wise approach if the invention is complex and the potential profitability is high.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) receives over 5,000 patent applications each week and has granted more than 100,000 patents annually since 1994. Patent application and grant rates have continued to increase exponentially ever since.
While some individuals may apply for patents themselves, many patents come from academic institutions or companies. The way patents are handled varies, but some generalities can be identified based on the context in which the utility (i.e. invention), design or plant arose.
Within academic institutions, the patent management process usually involves an initial determination of the relative importance of the subject matter and the viability of commercialization. Ad hoc committees may be formed to make these decisions, and if approved, counsel often completes the patent application.
Private companies follow a similar process regarding patent management, with some notable exceptions. Big companies like IBM have divisions dedicated to intellectual property (IP) protection. The divisions have an in-house consultant and other experts needed to fully initiate and continue patent management. Some companies, however, don’t share the profits with the inventor, especially if you believe the discovery was fully within the scope of what the inventor was hired to do.
In smaller companies, the emphasis may be on determining patent management priorities, especially if there are a number of inventions that could receive patents and fewer resources to do the work required to obtain and maintain a patent. Small businesses are also likely to hire patent management companies.
Regardless of the environment in which a patent object was developed, a patent management company may be solicited to provide patent analysis and commercialization assistance. They offer a variety of services, such as providing patent applicants with a corresponding score that informs them of other inventions similar to the one for which they are seeking a patent. Additionally, these companies can help companies manage their patent portfolio in terms of identifying areas that can effectively use further development. Collectively, these companies act as intermediaries between the patent applicant and the USPTO.
Agreements with these companies generally place responsibility for obtaining, maintaining and maximizing the patent on the company. The inventor or company generally does not incur any expenses and shares the profits with the company. The exact percentages are contractually determined.
Patent management is becoming increasingly important as the emphasis on technological progress increases. Therefore, the complexities of patent management are bound to increase.
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