Regular IP portfolio analysis will give you the opportunity to ensure that your IP achieves the goals it is supposed to.

Goals? Yes – there should be a specific goal for each part of the estate – every patent, trade mark or design (design patent) in every country.

That’s just the opportunity’ . To actually make this happen requires clearly defined goals in the context of a well thought out strategy and the discipline to implement it. This will often mean lapsing some IP rights which have no hope of performing and for which the cost-benefit analysis of out-licensing doesn’t add up.

An initial, critical step is to set up an internal data collection and reporting system which identifies products or services each IP Right supports and how they are faring. It doesn’t have to be a complicated, expensive enterprise.