Patent Mining: 3.5 Pitfalls To Avoid When Uncovering Hidden Gems
When it comes to successful IP portfolio management, “patent mining” is one of those terms that suggests the promise of striking it rich from unearthed intellectual property.
However, the truth is that patent mining is no quick fix. The trick to patent mining is avoiding the pitfalls – a process requiring a lot of strategy and investment of resources to truly reap the potential (and possibly considerable) financial benefits.
Here’s how:
1. Don’t Let Your Patent Portfolio Grow Out Of Control
Knowing what you have in your patent portfolio is significant to uncovering the gems. Statistically, the majority of patents in your portfolio are not providing economic value, and are actually costing you money in maintenance and attorney fees.
Patent pruning allows you to identify and eliminate any unproductive intellectual property you own, and strategically align your patent portfolio to meet your core business objectives. Keep in mind: The process of patent pruning must be done very carefully.
To start, consider how each patent supports, defends or advances your market position. Assets not in practice, outdated technologies or any assets with existing litigation are all ready to be evaluated for possible pruning from your patent portfolio.
2. Avoid Using Automated Systems For Patent Mining
Often, automated systems are used for patent mining … a process that all too many outsourced patent reviewers implement. Automated systems are a pitfall of patent mining for the following three reasons:
• Glossing over potentially viable patents
• Not always locating core assets
• Inaccurately evaluating technology across multiple industries
For effective mining, you need a patent mining service that reviews your patent portfolio personally. It should also manually review thousands of patents and conduct extensive IP valuation to select the best assets that serve your company’s core objectives.
3. Beware Of Traveling Down The Patent Mining Rabbit Hole
Without the right strategy and background experience in patent mining, you could end up wasting hours upon hours of company resources sifting through patents, trying to find value.
Your team of engineers may not have the experience evaluating assets from a patent monetization perspective. They may not understand the current markets and how certain technologies in your patent portfolio may be applicable.
To avoid falling down the patent mining rabbit hole, you need to know exactly where technology is headed across a wide range of industries, and how any given patent in your portfolio applies to technology 10 years into the future.
3.5. Never Assume Your Patent Portfolio Is Full Of Gems
In a portfolio of 100 patents, a low percentage of those patents are often true gems. Simply put: Knowing when to stop investing time and resources into forcing value out of bad assets is important to successful patent mining.
As a strategic business practice, patent mining necessitates a serious commitment to active scanning and analysis of all patents that directly affect your company’s goals.
To tie technology development to your business strategy, partner with a strong patent firm that has decades of experience, meaning they are devoted to iteratively mining your portfolio.
The resources spent on efficiently and effectively conducting patent mining save you from wasting time and money on unproductive patents in your portfolio.
Ready to learn more about patent mining and making the most of your IP portfolio management? Contact the patent mining service experts at TechPats today.
