기업특허전략 체크리스트

특허의 가치는 특허 건수나 청구범위와 같은 특허자체보다 그 특허를 어떻게 활용하는 가에 더 종속된다. Apple이 양적으로 그리 많지 않은 특허를 가지고 있음에도 공격적이고 적극적인 특허활용 정책으로 어느 기업보다 특허력과 가치를 높이 평가받고 있다는 사실을 떠올려보자 (이러한 상관관계는 언제한번 다루어 보도록 하겠다).

따라서 기술중심의 기업에게 특허전략의 수립과 전개는 매우 중요한 사업계획 중 하나이다. 그러나 대부분의 특허전략은 계획적인 전개가 아니라 우연히 발생하는 이벤트로 전락하기 쉽다. 자신의 기업에 맞는 특허전략의 수립 또는 평가를 위해서 체크리스트를 마련하여 활용하는 것은 큰 도움이 될 것이라고 믿는다. 

마침 Rajiv Patel 변호사가 Fenwick & West LLP 에서 공표한 “Developing a Patent Strategy A Checklist for Getting Started”라는 제목의 Article에 도움이 될만한 특허전략 Checklist가 소개되어 이를 공유하고자 한다. IBM 엔지니어 출신이라서 그런지 비즈니스적인 통찰력이 상대적으로 돋보인다. 참고로 본 Checklist는 기업 특허전략/법무팀에서 수행하고 있는 세부 Action item과 대동소이하다. 상세한 설명은 Fenwick & West LLP 사이트에서 다운받아 읽어보실 것을 권유한다.

A. Business and Patent Portfolio Goals

• List the business, technology, and product goals for the company.

• Identify key industry players (competitors, partners, customers).

• Identify technology directions (within company and within industry).

• Determine whether a patent portfolio be used offensively (i.e., asserted against others; revenue generation, etc.), defensively (i.e., used as a shield or counterclaim against others who file suit first), for marketing purposes (i.e., to show the outside world a portfolio to demonstrate company innovation), or a combination of these.

• Meet with a patent attorney to align goals, industry information, technology information, and core portfolio use strategy.

B. Evaluation of Company Assets

• Identify team members that will lead the mining and analysis process.

• Identify employees that create intellectual assets for the company.

• Identify the intellectual assets. To help determine this, gather and organize documented materials. Examples of documented materials include business plans, company procedures and policies, investor presentations, marketing presentations and publications, product specifications, technical schematics, and software programs. It may also include contractual agreements such as employment agreements, assignment and license agreements, non-disclosure and cofidentiality agreements, investor agreements, and consulting agreements.

• Identify the anticipated life span for each intellectual asset.

• Identify the market for each intellectual asset.

• Identify products/product lines incorporating each intellectual asset.

• Identify those intellectual assets best suited for patent protection.

• Review risk analysis with attorney involving competitor studies.

• Prepare budget for patent strategy and patent procurement.

C. Procurement Phase

• Establish a budget for patent portfolio development.

• Draft invention disclosures (see attorney for Invention Disclosure Form).

• Critically evaluate each invention disclosure in the context of the patent strategy.

• Weigh risks vs. reward of a prior art search.

• Evaluate benefits and risk of provisional vs. utility patent application with attorney.

• Forward invention disclosure to attorney for patent application drafting.

• Over time, determine whether to conduct further competitive analysis to study industry trends and technology directions and identify patent portfolio coverage in view of same.

• Over time, evaluate risk vs. reward of studying patent portfolios of competitors and other industry players to identify how to further strengthen its patent portfolio.

D. Deployment Phase

• Review patent portfolio to identify those assets that company can sell for cash or use to spin out new business.

• Study competitor products for infringement considerations and determine risks vs. rewards of cease and desist strategy or licensing strategy.

• Evaluate the strength of competitor patent portfolios to access the potential for counter-attacks.

• Determine risks and benefits of various enforcement options cease & desist; cross-license; etc.).

저자의 소개 : 

Rajiv P. Patel is a partner in the Intellectual Property/Patent Group of Fenwick & West LLP.  He develops, deploys, and manages patent portfolios for clients in high technology spaces, including wireless communications, clean technology, media (audio and video), gaming, and Internet (e.g., search engines, language processing, CDNs). His experience includes patent disputes (litigation and reexamination) and transactions (patent due diligence and analysis).  Prior to his law practice, Mr. Patel was engineer for IBM Corporation. As an attorney, Mr. Patel was an adjunct professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and currently chairs Patent Law education programs for Practising Law Institute.  Mr. Patel is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.