SetSquared: Ignite Your Crowdfunding & Intellectual Property
Ignite Your…IP Portfolio
Peter Beynon, Consultancy Services Director at
ClearViewIP Ltd
© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

ClearViewIP Ltd
“ClearViewIP is an Intellectual Property Consultancy providing a range of services
to help companies monitor, expand, commercialise, and better understand their
IP portfolio and its position within the industry”
 Founded 2007: 16 staff including 7 IP consultants
 Extensive commercial and IP experience
 Provide IP strategy and transaction services
 Pragmatic business advice
 Not lawyers. Not Patent Attorneys.
 Expertise across a wide range of high-tech markets
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

What is a Patent?
 A patent protects new ‘inventions’: what they
are, what they do and how they work
 A granted patent provides the owner with
monopoly on the subject of their application
 A patent can prevent others from making,
selling, distributing the subject without prior
consent from the patent owner
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Company IP Portfolio
 An IP portfolio should enable the company to
perform its business as effectively and profitably
as possible
 The IP portfolio underpins the strategy and
valuation of the business
 IP includes patents, knowhow, brands, designs
trademarks, etc …. our emphasis is on patents
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Key Patent Portfolio Goals
 Protect market share
o If products are copied, have the patents to challenge
infringers
 Use to trade if Freedom-to-Use issues develop
o Provides defensive ability when other manufacturers
litigate
 Enable/strengthen strategic initiatives & investments
 Trade against NPE (non-practising entities) activities
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Tools to Help Manage a Portfolio
 Patent Landscape
 Innovation Capture
 IP Health Checks
 Patent Commercialisation
 Patent Acquisition
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Patent Landscape
Understanding the Market
 Understand the competition
o Who are the strong/weak innovators?
o Who are the new-comers?
o Who was there first with the broad/fundamental IP?
o Who is partnering with who?
o Who are the litigators?
 Understand the technology
o Get detailed insight into the state of the art
o What are the current/past technology focuses?
o What will be the features of tomorrow's products?
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Patent Landscape
Understanding the Market
Examples taken from Photovoltaics Patent Landscape
Patent applications by technology area Geographical distribution of granted patents
assigned to the top 10 solar module manufacturers

Patent Landscape
Understanding the Market
Examples taken from Photovoltaics Patent Landscape
Percentage of PV patents by jurisdiction – bubble
size represents percentage of that years/PV patent Top 20 assignees with the most PV patent filings
applications made in that region

Innovation Capture
 Creates Records
 Usable proof of inventorship
 Stimulates further innovation
 Helps to assess and rank invention records
 Helps to validate novelty and conduct
assessments
 Develop an effective strategy
 Helps to prepare detailed invention
disclosures for patent application
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

IP Health Checks
Monitoring Your Portfolio
 Innovation
o Do new developments
match current business?
 Is the business still aligned with early patents?
 Revisit the landscape with focus on where actual business is now
 Are you still in scope of original patents ?
o Are any competitors ?
o Do you need to buy ?
o Any new threats ?
o What is surplus to requirements
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Technology Start Up Company
 Base technology
– 1 or 2 patents
 Market opportunity
– Not always quite as expected
 Business develops
– Are products or services still in scope of patents?
– Has there been divergence?
– Is anyone waiting to strike?
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Divergence
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1 2
Company
Company
products &
products & Patents
services
Patents Patents services
Company growth over time
 With growth, patents may become less well aligned
 License / sell original core patents?
 New filings to protect relevant innovation?
 Patent acquisition to realign with new company focus?
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Patent Commercialisation
Monetizing Your Portfolio
 Patents no longer relevant to the business
o No value - abandon
o Value
• License
• Sell
 Core but seek to realise value
o Sell and license back
o License
• To another player active in different geographies / fields
• If infringed - assert or use partner / special purpose vehicle
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Divergence
3
1 2
Company
Company
products &
products & Patents
services
Patents Patents services
Company growth over time
 With growth, patents may become less well aligned
 License / sell original core patents?
 New filings to protect relevant innovation?
 Patent acquisition to realign with new company focus?
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Patent Acquisition
Strengthening Your Portfolio
 Searching techniques to find relevant patents
– Landscape based
 Filter patents according to criteria
– Litigation ready
– Support patents
– Room for manoeuvre
 Establish probability of availability to purchase
– Commercial knowledge
– Discreet enquiries
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Venture Capital
Funding Your Business
 VC’s will want to understand:
o People
o Product or Service
o Market & Technology
o COMPANY IP PORTFOLIO & STRATEGY
o IP OWNERSHIP
o IP LANDSCAPE & FREEDOM TO USE
Do they all stack up? If there is a strategic
weakness, can we see how to fix it?
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Summary
Do you know the threats in the market and the risks in commercialising your IP?
 Patent Landscape
What IP are you developing and what IP can you commercialise?
 Innovation Capture
Is your patent portfolio relevant to your business as it evolves?
 IP Health Checks
Do you have unused patents draining resources? Can you monetize your
portfolio?
 IP Commercialisation
How can you strengthen your portfolio and how might you defend your portfolio?
 Patent Acquisition
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.

Contact
Peter Beynon, Consultancy Services Director
peter_beynon@clearviewip.com
Tel: 0845 680 1953
www.clearviewip.com
Twitter: @ClearViewIP
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© ClearViewIP Ltd 2013. All rights reserved.