TheGapingHoleinTechnology
Landscapes:StaticReporting
ThatLeavesTooMuch
OpportunityontheTable
IPVisionHelpsanEmergingCompanyDevelopitsIP
StrategytoTargetFutureAcquisitionUsingaProprietary,
DynamicTechnologyLandscapeSystem
Atechnologylandscapeisnotaone-to-onesolutionforaspecificIPgoal.Itisinsteadacategoryofassessments
withmanydifferentoutcomesdependingonthebusinesscontextandstrategy.Thephrase“technology
landscape”meansdifferentthingstodifferentbusinesses,andthisterminologyoftencreatesadisconnect
betweenthestrategicbusinessobjectivesandtheresultingexecution.
Whatdoesatechnologylandscapemeantoyou?Doesit:
•
Identifycurrentandfuturecompetitors
•
Determineareasofpotentialwhitespace
•
Exploreopportunitiesforpatentmonetization/licensing
•
Assessanacquisition’sIPvalue
•
EvaluateIPrisk
•
ExaminetheIPvalueofpotentialinvestments
Thetruthis,technologylandscapescanachievealloftheseoutcomesandmore.Andsothenextvaluablequestion
toconsideris:whereshouldcompaniesturntoobtainatechnologylandscapethatwilleffectivelyaddresstheir
specificbusinessgoals?
PROBLEM
AnEmergingCompanyLacksBusinessInsightonIPStrategy
Afterseveralyearsofproductdevelopment,asmallwell-fundedcompany(“EmergingCorp”)introduceditsfirst
majorproductline.Sixmonthsafteritslaunch,theproductwaswell-receivedinthemarketandmanagementwas
preparingtoraisecapitalforgrowth.AnticipatingIPstrategyquestionsfrompotentialnewinvestors,“Emerging
IPVision,Inc.
800SouthStreet,Suite350,Waltham,MA02453
P1(617)475-6000F1(617)[email protected]
www.ipvisioninc.com
Corp”wantedatechnologylandscapetoidentifycompetitorsandassessthemarketplace.Managementalso
wantedtobemorestrategicwiththecompany’sintellectualproperty,asitwasstillintheearlystagesofitsIP
development.
“EmergingCorp”hadbeenrelyingonpatentlawyersfromamajorlawfirm.Whilemanagementhadbeensatisfied
withthepatentwork,itfeltthatthelawfirmwasn’tabletoprovideinsightintoIPstrategyfromabusiness
perspective.
“Whatshouldbeavaluabletoolthatdeliverstimelyinsightandactionable
directioninresponsetoabusinessquestionisinsteadacostlyandineffective
documentthatcapturesasingle,staticmomentintime.”
Mostbusinessesrelyononeofthreecommonresourcestoconductatechnologylandscape–allofwhichareless
thanideal:
•
Anoffshorecompanythatwillconductakeywordsearchanddeliveralistofpatentsfor$1,000.
•
Amajorconsultingfirmengagementthatwilltakesixmonthsandchargehundredsofthousandsof
dollarstodeliverabinderofstaticpatentdatacharts.Thedatamayormaynotprovideusefulinsights,
butwillbeoutdatedbythetimethebinderisdeliveredtotheclient’sofficeduetotheunrelentingpace
ofIPchange.
•
Alawfirmthatwilleitheroutsourcetheprojecttoanoffshorecompanyoraconsultingfirm,orwilluse
itsassociatestodevelopastaticpatentreport.Thesereportswillhavealegalperspective,ratherthana
businessperspective,andwillalsobeimmediatelybeoutdated.
Toaddinsulttoinjury,allthreeoftheseoptionsrelyonthesameunsatisfyingbaselineprocess:
•
Theyuseapurchasedsoftwaresubscription(oftenexactlythesamesoftware).
•
Theyproducealegalormanagementconsultingviewthatisusuallynotactionable.
•
Thereportsarestatic–bythetimetheydeliverthemtheworldhaschanged.
•
Theydon’tprovideelectronicaccesstounderlyingdata(noclientportal).
•
Theydon’thelpcompaniesintegratetheknowledgegainedintotheirbusinessprocesses.
Whatshouldbeavaluabletoolthatdeliverstimelyinsightandactionabledirectioninresponsetoabusiness
questionisinsteadacostlyandineffectivedocumentthatcapturesasingle,staticmomentintime.
Therewasaclearopportunitytodevelopabettertechnologylandscape.
IPVision,Inc.
800SouthStreet,Suite350,Waltham,MA02453
P1(617)475-6000F1(617)[email protected]
www.ipvisioninc.com
2
SOLUTION
ATechnologyLandscapeUsingPatentAnalyticsandComputerAlgorithms
ProvidesQuick,DynamicandInsightfulBusinessIntelligence
“EmergingCorp”workedwithIPVisiontodevelopalandscapestudythatfocusedontheinitialmarketwherethe
companyhadintroduceditsfirstproductline.
IPVisionusedpatentanalyticsandcomputeralgorithmstoexaminetheindustry’spatentactivity,whichisarich
sourceofbusinessintelligencethatreflectstechnologyinvestmentsbypatentapplicants.Thisevaluationprovided
dataon:
•
whatorganizationsexistinthespace
•
sizeofthoseorganizations
•
IPpositionofthoseorganizations
•
theirfilinghistory
•
strengthofeachportfoliowithinthespace
•
newvs.wellestablishedcompanieswithinthespace
•
whetherprojectionscouldbemadebasedonthisdatafortheindustryasawhole
“Patentactivityisarichsourceofbusinessintelligencethatreflects
technologyinvestmentsbypatentapplicants.”
IPVisiondeliveredtheresultingtechnologylandscapeintheformofseveraldynamicreportsthatweretailoredto
severaldifferentusergroupswithinthecompany,eachfocusedondistinctbusinessobjectives:
•
C-LevelExecutive:AnExecutiveSummaryfocusingonstrategicimplications
•
DirectorLevel:Alongformreportwithlinkstounderlyingdata
•
AnalystLevel:Onlineclientportalwithunderlyingdataforfurtherinvestigation
IPVisionalsoheldinteractiveworkingsessionstohelpeachgroupunderstandthebusinesssignificanceofthe
results,anddevelopstrategiesandon-goingprocessestomakeuseoftheknowledge.
Duringtheseworkingsessions,IPVisionhelped“EmergingCorp”integratetheirexistingmarketintelligencewith
theadditionalbusinessintelligencethatemergedfromanalyzingthepatentlandscape.Thisintegratedview
enabledmanagementtounderstandpatentissuesfromabusinessperspective,andimprovedcommunications
withthecompany’soutsidepatentprosecutionlawfirm.
IPVision,Inc.
800SouthStreet,Suite350,Waltham,MA02453
P1(617)475-6000F1(617)[email protected]
www.ipvisioninc.com
3
RESULTS
EmergingCompanyMakesStrategicDecisionstoRegularlyStrengthenitsIP
Position
Basedontheintelligenceandinsightsgatheredfromtheirtechnologylandscape,“EmergingCorp”madeseveral
strategicdecisionstofurtherdevelopitsintellectualproperty:
1.
Publiclydisclosingfeaturestopreventothersfromrestrictingthecompany’scorepatents.
2.
Focusingproductdevelopmentonnextgenerationfeaturesthatlikelyacquirerswillfindvaluable.
3.
Identifyingapplicationsforitstechnologythatcouldcreatedisruptivebusinessmodels,andfurther
enhancethecompany’svaluetoanacquirer.
“EmergingCorp”willalsoperiodicallymonitorchangestothecompetitiveIPlandscapeusingtheupdating
capabilitieswithinIPVision’spatentanalyticsplatform.
Patentsarenolongeranafterthoughtleftto“EmergingCorp’s”lawyers.Thecompanynowhasarobustbusiness
strategybasedonacomprehensiveandstrategicpatentlandscapeprocess.
“Thecompanynowhasarobustbusinessstrategybasedonacomprehensive
andstrategicpatentlandscapeprocess.”
ADynamicTechnologyLandscapeistheSecretto
DevelopingValueforFutureAcquisition
Technology-BasedToolHelpsEmergingCompaniesInformIPStrategy
IPVisionwascreatedfromagroupthatwasconductingtechnologycommercialization,mostlyforMIT
technologies.Whenthegroupwasunabletofindanytoolavailablethatcouldofferadeepunderstandingof
intellectualpropertytoinformstrategicbusinessdecisionsforpotentialinvestments,theydevelopedtheirown
tool.
TheIPVisionproprietarysystemdeliversactionableresultsforstrategicandtacticaldecision-making,andfulfills
threeprimaryrequirements:
•
Theresultsaredeliveredquickly(indays,notmonths)
•
Theprocessiscost-effective
•
Theresultsaredynamicandcanbeupdatedeasilyforcontinualassessment
IPVision,Inc.
800SouthStreet,Suite350,Waltham,MA02453
P1(617)475-6000F1(617)[email protected]
www.ipvisioninc.com
4
ManyentrepreneursquestionthefeasibilityofdevelopinganIPStrategyforemergingcompaniesduetothe
significantcostsofobtainingandlitigatingpatents.Whiletheseobjectionsarevalid,theyoverlookthelong-term
strategicrolethatpatentIPhasindevelopingvalueforpotentialfutureacquisition.
Mostfinanciallysuccessfultechnologyentrepreneurialventuresareacquiredbylargercompaniesneedingto
innovate.AsuccessfultechnologylandscapewillguideanemergingcompanytodevelopbusinessandIPstrategies
thatwillincreasethelikelihoodandvalueofanacquisition.
“Asuccessfultechnologylandscapewillguideanemergingcompanyto
developbusinessandIPstrategiesthatwillincreasethelikelihoodandvalue
ofanacquisition.”
LearnmoreaboutIPVision’sapproachtotechnologylandscapes,andtakealookatasampleofourdynamic
patentlandscapemaps.Unliketraditional,staticpatentlandscapemaps,thesehighlyinteractive,sophisticated
patentlandscapemapsgiveyoutheabilitytodoadeepdiveintoIPanalyticstoactivelyexploreapatent’sorigin
andevolutionaswellasclaimsandcitationreferencestoassesspatentquality,value,andrisk.TheyenableIP
managerstosurveythetechnologylandscapeinreal-time,usingcurrentpatentdatathatisconstantlyupdated.
Downloadasampleinteractivepatentlandscapemap.
IPVisionisa2.0strategyconsultancythatisdrivenfrominternally-developedtechnologiesbuilttoparseand
analyzelargeamountsofIPdata.Ourinteractiveplatformhelpsaligncollaborativestakeholdersinyour
organization,enablingefficientandeffectiveimplementationofstrategicinsightsanddecisionsthatresultfrom
ourconsultingworkwithyou.
IPVision,Inc.
800SouthStreet,Suite350,Waltham,MA02453
P1(617)475-6000F1(617)[email protected]
www.ipvisioninc.com
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