A well formulated Patent portfolio is the soul of any business venture, typically when you are dealing with high throughput technologies. While it is obvious that the big players are diligently working to enhance their patent portfolio but on the other hand start ups have geared up to have an active eye on their building patent portfolio. Nobody wants to lose the game and the very fact has led to drafting of broader and enhanced patent claims with a scope for future claims expansion during patent prosecutions.
Patent landscaping is one crucial factor that has contributed in strengthening the existing patent portfolio. Landscaping gives a clear indication of the technology area to focus upon, analyzing the geography of markets of interest, identifying the competitors and their area of practice and formulating core business and R&D strategies.
Businesses have to carry out a robust IP due diligence search before foraying into the red ocean. While, entering a red ocean has its own merits and demerits, but stringent competition obviously will lead to a race in acquiring the most diverse patent portfolio. The more diverse your IP portfolio is, the stronger is your business reputation. On the other hand, if your technology is foraying into the blue ocean, you certainly have an advantage of undisputed marketplace but this does not neglect the fact that such a situation could possibly lead to an ample number of episodes of “Designing around”. In both circumstances, you need a practical and effective patent strategy to survive.
In a nutshell, a potent patent strategy will be motley of various factors discussed above but the very fact of implementing it is a challenge. Many businesses worldwide have overcome this challenge and created a robust IP portfolio for their ventures. Devising a potent patent strategy will definitely win you many accolades in the near future. Thus, give your business a boost and adopt a pragmatic IP strategy and reap the future benefits.
( Image by Claudia Meyer)
