TechPats – Your Partner in Developing Solutions to Intellectual Property Challenges
If your company is considering a new IP strategy or revisiting existing strategy to better align it with new business directions TechPats offers a suite of Advisory services and competencies to help you navigate through this multidimensional environment.
TechPats successfully applies its IP expertise and business acumen to provide IP Advisory support to companies in various industries. TechPats and client share and jointly develop confidential information related to business plans, organization effectiveness, competition and markets.
Below are some examples of TechPats’ services and competencies that have proven invaluable in assisting our clients in developing and executing their IP strategies:
- SWOT of client’s patent position; identification of portfolio gaps
- Global litigation landscape related to client’s strategy; identification and ranking of the most likely aggressors
- Competitive technology/patent landscape; identification of competing technology solutions from major players in the target geographic market
- Business exposure analysis to competitors’ patents
- IP organization benchmarking based on interviews with representative companies
- Recommendations for IP Policy for universities and research organizations
CASE STUDIES
A few case studies are presented to illustrate diversity of IP Advisory support projects performed by TechPats for clients in Europe, Asia and in the US. These projects usually last several months and often TechPats is being retained to contribute to the implementation of the IP strategy recommendations developed through the IP Advisory services.
CASE 1 – Advisory for IP Strategy to Face Technological and Business Disruption
Client: Automotive OEM
Challenge: Autonomous driving creates technological, business and IP disruptions among the established OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Our client recognized the need for the development of a proactive IP strategy.
Strategic Goal: Assess the risk of patent assertion from emerging competitors and prepare a defense strategy
TechPats Analysis:
- Landscape of patents applicable to autonomous driving; identification of patent holders in each technology area including software and semiconductors
- SWOT of client’s patent position; identification of portfolio gaps
- Global litigation landscape related to client’s strategy; identification and ranking of the most likely aggressors
Outcome:
- Client decided to pursue a targeted counter-assertion strategy
- TechPats has been retained for patent acquisition and strategic patenting programs
CASE 2 – Market Entry IP Advisory
Client: Industrial Conglomerate
Challenge: Client plans to enter market in new geographic region with its established product/technology and is concerned about the competitive threat
Strategic Goal: Assess competitive risk and identify market entry strategy options
TechPats Analysis:
- Competitive technology/patent landscape; identification of competing technology solutions form major players in the target geographic market
- SWOT of client patent position; identification of portfolio gaps and assessment of risk of assertion from major competitors
- Identification of innovative companies with complementary products and a presence in the target geographic market
Outcome:
- Client considered acquisition of one of the innovative companies identified by TechPats.
- The market downturn caused client to revisit approach and subsequently to abandon the market entry plan based on TechPats’ assessment of the risk and exposure.
CASE 3 – IoT supply chain IP advisory
Client: IoT Module Manufacturer
Challenge: IoT modules use technologies from multiple suppliers. IoT modules in turn are integrated by the system integrators into final product solutions. When the end product is being exposed to patent assertion, all players in the supply chain may have to participate in the execution of the defensive strategy.
Strategic Goal: evaluate business exposure for the IoT module manufacturer when the end product is being exposed to patent assertion. Develop plan for proactive preparation for a defense.
TechPats Analysis:
- Assessment of a business exposure to the patent assertion launched against IoT module manufacturer’s client (end product vendor)
- Assessment of the risk of future assertion across range of technologies. Prioritization of technology areas which would be most likely at risk and which would create highest business exposure to the IoT module vendor
Outcome:
- TechPats client has become well prepared for the anticipated assertions across the IoT supply chain. It has started to identify defensive patent portfolio for counter-assertion and has established a process for effective response in an event of such assertion.
CASE 4 – Advisory for IP Policy for a University
Client: Publically Funded Research and Academic Institution
Challenge: Increase the rate of IP creation and university’s contribution to the regional industry and the society through effective commercialization of the IP created at the university.
Strategic Goal: Introduce changes to the existing policy which include the option for the creators of IP to own such IP and commercialize it with the assistance of the university technology transfer office. Increase opportunities for building startups and launching spin-off companies based on IP developed by the researchers. Increase effectiveness of IP transfer to the industrial partners.
TechPats Analysis:
- SWOT of the existing IP policy
- Prepared a survey questionnaire and analyzed the responses from over 200 respondents with a goal to gather input on revised IP policy expectations.
- Conducted one-on-one confidential interviews with the selected representatives of the university stakeholders including professors, industry chair holders, students, industrial partners, VCs and incubators
- Assessed present IP policy and operations methods and developed benchmarks for new IP policy, operations and organization.
- Prepared recommendations report
Outcome:
- University IP policy drafting team prepared revised IP policy based on the recommendations and will be presenting it to the university board for approval
CASE 5 – IP Organization Advisory
Client: Multinational Consumer Product Company
Challenge: Growth through acquisition of companies in various countries created a challenge in managing IP across multiple product lines
Strategic Goal: Assess IP position of each country entity, identify options for new IP Organization structure and processes for strengthening the company’s IP position globally
TechPats Analysis:
- Competitive technology/patent landscapes in each country;
- SWOT of client patent position; identification of portfolio gaps and assessment of risk of assertion from major competitors
- Assessed present IP organization structure and developed benchmarks for IP organization based on multiple interviews with several representative international companies
- Analyzed options for new IP management processes, KPIs and IP organization (centralized, distributed, hybrid) for client consideration
Outcome:
- TechPats became a partner to the client’s IP organization through the entire IP organization effectiveness redesign process which lasted 2 years.
- TechPats participated in meetings with IP groups of subsidiaries in various countries.