When it comes to intellectual property (IP), discussions often focus on individual asset types, such as whether to file a patent, how many trademarks a brand should have, or whether certain information should remain a trade secret. While these questions are important, they lack meaning in a vacuum — and they only become truly powerful within the context of an overall IP strategy.
Crafting an IP strategy isn’t straightforward. There is no universal IP strategy. Each company’s business goals and innovation aspirations are different, so a robust IP strategy is bespoke, multifaceted, and hard to talk about in the abstract.
To simplify the discussion of complex concepts, it is often helpful to use a framework for understanding. One framework we use to approach IP strategy creation and realignment projects here at Longship is a flow-down framework. The flow-down framework along with an assessment of a company’s current state provides a structure for discussing and creating an IP strategy.
The Flow-Down Framework
One useful approach involves the following steps that flow down into one another:
- Understand the Business Objectives: Start by understanding the company’s overarching business goals.
- Identify the Technology Objectives: Next, consider the technology objectives driven by the business goals.
- Outline the Intellectual Property (IP) Goals: Next, outline the IP goals that flow down from the business and technology objectives. These goals define the “why” behind the IP strategy. The business objectives and technology objectives of the company flow-down and define the IP goals. Those can be varied and unique to each company, but often include such things as value creation, risk management, landscaping, IP protection, and providing a competitive advantage.
- Define the IP Types: What IP types help support the IP goals? Not every type of IP is right for ever business venture, technology, or IP goal. The IP goals enable the universe of possible IP types to be understood, narrowed, and evaluated.
- Choose the Methods and Approaches: With an understanding of the business goals, the technology goals, and the IP goals along with an assessment of the company’s capabilities, select the IP methods and approaches that are viable for that company. Whether it be one or more of contracts, capture documents, agreements, NDAs, application filings, registration efforts, record keeping actions, security measures, training, or any other tool with which to achieve an IP goal, a good strategy considers the company as a whole and the company’s actual ability to implement the methods and approaches that are right for the company’s goals.
Tailoring the Strategy
Using this framework, we create a customized IP strategy that fits the unique context of our clients’ businesses. Knowing our client’s goals, enables us to build a strategy with the depth and breadth appropriate to meet those goals. It’s not just about legal protection; it’s about maximizing value and staying ahead in a competitive landscape.