Patent layout

Patent portfolio is a general guideline and overall planning for the enterprises, usually taken as the strategic consideration. It can be conducted generally for the whole situation and also precisely for certain products and projects as well. Usually, an enterprise can have a central patent portfolio consisting of a number of project portfolios, which is a common idea in the field especially for firms with diversity in business.


Key Points
In terms of Firm

1. 1.Making patent strategies 2. Facility devotion 3. Market extension 4. Business operation mode 5. Other

In terms of industry

1. 1.Developing phase 2. Patent distribution and change 3. Other

In terms of products

1. 1.Importance degree 2. Maturity degree 3. Creativity 4. Seriation

In terms of competitor

1. 1.Strategy change 2. Market trend 3. Cooperation network. 4. Patent competitiveness and lawsuit movement

General process
Participants
Usually involves four departments: ①patent management department②company management③marketing department④research and technology department
Stages
Market research, technical surveys, industry surveys, patent research, strategy selection, layout planning, layout implementation, layout optimization, etc.
Steps of implements
Typical patterns
 

The basic steps for carrying out patent distribution


The basic structure and mode of patent layout

Types of functions
Viewing the integral structure and the strategic need of patent portfolio, the patents involved can be categorized into different types as follow:
1. Patented patent; 2. Competitive patent; 3. Complementary patent; 4. Supportive patent; 5. Extensibility patent; 6. Puzzlement patent; 7. Defensive disclosure

Typical strategic modes of patent portfolio
Ove Granstrand, a Swedish expert once pointed out that there are six modes included in the patent portfolio.

1. 1.Specific barrier and avoidance design

With relatively low cost in application and maintenance, using one or few patents to protect an invention for certain use, but sometimes it may be used by competitors for their benefits.

2. 2.Strategic patent

One kind with great blocking effect, but failed in design avoidance.

3. 3.Carpet patent portfolio

Where a minefield of patents is formed in case of incursions, lawsuit is also needed to get the intruders banished if necessary.

4. 4.Patent walls

A series of patents for use of blocking the patent research and development on competitors’ side.

5. 5.Surrounding patent portfolio

A portfolio constitutes of small patents together as a circle with their joint value stands in the way of business application of competitors’ important patents.

6. 6.Combined patent portfolio

Patent layout of starups

 

Advantages	Disadvantages
1. Flexible;         2. Founders attention;         3. Active cooperation with R&D personnel	1 Lacking of funds;        2 Lacking of patent talents;        3 Time emergency;        4 Small scale and high risk;        5 Lacking of intellectual property management

Start-ups’ strategies on patent portfolio
What’s urgent for a start-up to think about is how to survive through marketing. And the question can be specified as what kind of patent portfolio helps such a situation, for “a stronger survivor, a brighter future” is always as the way as it is of development for a start-up.
 
Block first, encircle next
Any pioneering and subversion startups would encounter barriers because of limited personnel or fund in the initiative stage of the business operation. Hence it would be necessary for them to build a base of patents for protection of the core techniques, there won’t be too much though, they have to find out their best ones with broadest scope of protection to cover their innovative techniques.

“guerrilla warfare”
For continuous innovation enterprises, the marketing environment can only be fiercer. Without enough economic strength or technical support to confront their competitors, these firms however needs to survive the market anyway. That’s why the patent portfolio should go with the management strategies for the firms’ survival.
 
Give priority to Utility Model patents
This is used when the firm needs their technologies to be protected while in a lack-of-funding situation.
 
Straight-pilot strategy
The difficulty lies in the great uncertainty of implementing the strategy, for it would be necessary for the firms to predict where the research and development of the competitors would go so that to obtain earlier ownership of the patents and if possible, to negotiate with the competitors, make them our clients and start to offer IP services.
 
Substituting technologies application first.
An effective strategy for start-ups to build their own technical barriers, keep an eye on what substituting technologies would be used by competitors, and file the application as soon as possible before the competitors do, protecting the core technology. Otherwise the start-ups could just easily lose their technical advantage.