We, at Think IP Strategy, strongly believe that a key advantage we have over some of the other IP Strategy firms is the diversity of the people in our team. We have a very experienced team located around the world, some with general business backgrounds and others originally trained in the law with a focus on IP. We have folks from law firms, others from IP data management groups, and a few, like myself, with significant in-house experience managing teams of IP attorneys.

When we connect with a potential client, especially at the CEO level, I draw the analogy that, because of our diversity and the scope of our offering, we can act as would an opthamologist. Let me explain. Of course, the CEO knows that IP is important (i.e. he can read the first line of the opthamologist’s chart). He also knows where the business is heading and usually wants to be able to use IP effectively to plot the optimal course (i.e. he would like to be able to read the last line of the chart). Our diversity enables us to try out different IP strategy options on the CEO during the initial discussions to explore how these might positively impact the business. In the opthamologist’s world, we’re performing the eye test, and exploring how different lenses (offerings) can affect the business and the CEO’s vision for using IP effectively.

The belief is that with the right combination of strategic IP activities, and the involvement of the best qualified members of our team to support the activities, the CEO will achieve 20/20 vision and the business will flourish with IP an integral part of its development and sustainability.

Image credit: Nevada Tumbleweed (Mark Holloway)