Offensive and Defensive IP Portfolio Strategies

Competition for development of new technologies in today’s global marketplace frequently moves at a blistering pace.  Investors and the market often more richly reward those with an ability to foresee where new product and service opportunities lie as a consequence of such new developments.  Critical to such strategic market planning is the need to be aware of the intellectual property landscape for new product and service opportunities.  Investment of time, money and resources can be frustrated when serious barriers to entry in a market, such as key patents, are discovered at a late stage.  It can be equally damaging to be the first to introduce new products or services to a market only to find that they are inadequately protected and subject to imitation and copying by competitors.

The risk from barriers to entry for developing technologies can be reduced by effective strategies for monitoring competitive patent portfolios.  This kind of defensive portfolio monitoring can help identify at an earlier stage patents that may be in process, helping to avoid infringement through effective design-around strategies, or when necessary, by triggering patent challenges through the use of such cost-effective procedures such as initiating re-examination proceedings as soon as a troubling patent issues, rather than waiting for costly litigation to ensue.

Monitoring competitive patent portfolios can also help to identify areas of emerging technology which may potentially compete, with a view toward strengthening your own patent portfolio to anticipate such competition.  This kind of offensive portfolio monitoring can help stave off competition in key product lines, and can add value to your own portfolio of patent rights.

Our attorneys are skilled at these kinds of strategic patent strategies, and can help you stay a step ahead of the competition in today’s fast moving markets.