Integration of Intellectual Property Strategy with Innovation Strategy

Abstract

OVERVIEW:One way of assessing the business value of an invention is to consider the patent's role in the company's overall innovation strategy. A study of over 100 companies' patent portfolios and practices revealed that the structure of successful patent portfolios is closely connected to particular innovation strategies. Best practices to manage innovation and create intellectual property vary by time-to-prototype and time-to-market; unsurprisingly, practices for managing and leveraging IP vary along the same axes. The matrix of factors created by overlaying IP attributes on innovation strategies can be used by company patent committees and R&D managers to guide decisions about whether, how, and where to protect new technologies.