Technology Developers and Innovators

This is a 'high level', or general, view of a technology landscape in the field of backlighting and light guides. The 'peaks' show high levels of patent filing, while the 'valleys' demonstrate low levels of patent activity.

Further analysis of the technology landscape reveals there are approximately 19,000 patents with the words 'light' and guide' and 'plate' in the title or the abstract. Each patent is classified with one or more International Patent Classifications (IPCs). For example, IPC G02B6/00 includes: "Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings". 3,726 of these 19,000 patents are classified as being in this category. We can identify which category, or categories, your technology will fall into, and see how many patents are already filed in that sector.

We can further refine the list of patents so that you can see exactly which of your competitors are active in which technologies and in which territories. This analysis can be used to understand where your competitors believe the opportunities are greatest, identify potential co-developers for new technologies and identify potential IP barriers to proposed R&D activities thereby enabling opportunities to in-license or acquire third party IP before committing valuable resources.

This chart gives an overview of the patenting activities of a particular company over the last 30 years. The different colours represent different International Patent Classifications (different technical areas), and the height of the bars displays the levels of patenting activity. This would give you a very good idea of the current strategies and technology investment trends which your main competitors are implementing.

We can also provide market data on any technology in any territory. This chart shows the territorial distribution of year-on-year patenting activity (the 'invention velocity') in particular electronics markets.

Using industrial data, estimates can also be made of R&D spend in particular technology areas. Patent data reveal the patenting activity in any particular technological area.

Therefore, a realistic estimate of the investment made (by companies or countries) in a particular technology can be made.

Before the start of R&D, it is possible to estimate, and therefore project, in which technological areas innovation will be created from your R&D. This 'system diagram', would be created before any money was spent on R&D and would become part of the management toolkit to monitor and review the progress of the research, particularly regarding the innovation and potential patent or other asset development. This particular example correctly predicted the areas of innovation which resulted.

By routinely monitoring the IP landscape, we can identify threats to your R&D as they arise. You can then decide whether you should steer your R&D to avoid the threat, or to make an approach to the other party in order to acquire rights to their technology, via payment or a cross-licence.

At the start of your R&D project, IP Harvest will demonstrate good IP practice to your colleagues and contractors and provide them with a menu of operating procedures which will ensure all innovation is captured, harvested, protected through the most appropriate and cost effective means and prepared for commercialisation. These procedures, linked to the contract terms in use with contractors, will provide a completely unambiguous proof of ownership.

This chart shows the different patented technologies which resulted from a life sciences project. The choice of territories in which to protect is determined by the technology and the market. For example, high specification equipment manufacture can only be delivered from a handful of territories, while sample preparation can be delivered from a wider geographical area; therefore, savings can be made by careful selection of the territories in which to file. We then worked with the client to identify the best licensing strategy, and licensees, in order to maximise income.

Most patent owners have no idea whether, or not, their patents have been cited by other organisations. These organisations may be potential development collaborators, potential acquisitions or acquisitors, or they may be using your technology without your permission, in which case you may be missing out on multiple streams of licence income.

IP Harvest can identify which organisations have cited your existing published patents and patent applications and can provide you with the key data to enable strategic decisions to be taken. For example, you can then decide whether, or not, to request royalty payments from potential patent infringers.

IP Harvest has a global network of licensing professionals who can access data which enables comparison of typical license deals in the same, or similar technology sectors, as yours. Such information can provide you with a valuable insight into the potential value of new, or yet to be developed IP, so that you can make an informed decision on how to structure any licensing arrangements, or whether a particular research area is likely to produce the levels of income necessary to justify the investment.

IP Harvest will ensure you licence only the technology which your licensee needs, not what your licensee wants.

As part of a R&D project, Company A had developed 31 data analysis drives. Although the lawyers acting on behalf of Company sought access to all 31 drives, an analysis of Company B's business plan revealed that Company B only required to license drives 3, 8, 11 and 15.

Therefore, Company A was free to license any of the other hard drives in any territory for any purpose, thus maximising the potential for multiple income streams.

IP Harvest will ensure you license only the technology which your licensee needs, not what your licensee wants.

IP Harvest can provide a system which tracks the income/cost of each individual asset included in a licence, so that you can see which assets create the most wealth, and which assets should be discarded. Such management activity of your IP portfolio enables decisions based on hard facts to be taken regarding the ongoing protection or sale/abandonment of expensive IP.

You or your R&D provider may need access to 3rd party IP in order to conduct your research. IP Harvest will ensure that the 3rd party IP has a clear ownership trail, and that the 3rd party is free to use the IP for your purposes.

This is a 'high level', or general, view of a technology landscape in the field of backlighting and light guides. The 'peaks' show high levels of patent filing, while the 'valleys' demonstrate low levels of patent activity. Our technology enables us to zoom in on any particular area and also to drill down into any patent cluster to identify the owners and the specific technology.

Using the technology landscape in Fig 1, we find there are approximately 19,000 patents with the words 'light' and guide' and 'plate' in the title or the abstract. Each patent is classified with one or more International Patent Classifications (IPCs). For example, IPC G02B6/00 includes: "Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings”. 3,726 of these 19,000 patents are classified as being in this category. We can identify which category, or categories, your technology will fall into, and see how many patents are already filed in that sector.

We can further refine the list of patents so that you can see exactly which of your competitors are filing patents in which technologies and in which territories they are seeking protection. This analysis can be used for a number of commercial purposes including:

• Understanding where competitors believe the opportunities are greatest
• Identifying potential co-developers for new technologies
• Identifying potential IP barriers to proposed R&D activities
• Highlighting opportunities to in-licence or acquire third party IP before committing valuable resources

This chart gives an overview of the patenting activities of a particular company over the last 30 years. The different colours represent different International Patent Classifications (different technical areas), and the height of the bars displays the levels of patenting activity. This would give your investee a very good idea of the current strategies and technology investment trends which their main competitors are implementing.

Using published patent data, we can also provide territorial market data in any technology area. This chart shows the territorial distribution of year-on-year patenting activity (the 'invention velocity') in particular electronics markets. This type of chart could also be used to demonstrate territorial market data where we have zoomed in on particular territories or technologies or companies.

Using industrial data, estimates can also be made of R&D spend in particular technology areas. Patent data reveal the patenting activity in any particular technological area.

Therefore, a realistic estimate of the investment made in a particular technology can be made.

Before the start of R&D, it is possible to estimate, and therefore project, in which technological areas innovation will be created from your investee's R&D. This 'system diagram', would be created before any money was spent on R&D and would become part of the management toolkit to monitor and review the progress of the research, particularly regarding the innovation and potential patent or other asset development. This particular example correctly predicted the areas of innovation which resulted.

By regularly monitoring the IP landscape for any changes, we can identify threats to your investee's R&D project as they arise. Their team can then make strategic decisions on how to react including, for example, whether they should steer the R&D to avoid the threat, make an approach to the other party in order to acquire rights to their technology, via payment or a cross-licence, or even to abandon the project.

Most patent owners have no idea their patents have been cited by other organisations in their own patent applications. Such citations can be on a grand scale. These other organisations may be potential development collaborators, they might be interested in being acquired by your investee or acquiring them. They may even be using your investee technology without permission and in that circumstance your investee could benefit from multiple streams of licence income.

IP Harvest can identify which organisations have cited your investee's existing published patents and patent applications and can provide them with the key data to enable strategic decisions to be taken. For example, they can then decide whether, or not, to request royalty payments from potential patent infringers.

IP Harvest has a global network of licensing professionals and can access data to enable comparison of typical licence deals in the same or similar technology sector as your investee. That information can provide a valuable insight into the potential value of new, or yet to be developed, IP, so that one can make an informed decision on how to structure any licensing arrangements or whether a particular research area is likely to produce the levels of income necessary to justify the investment.

This is a 'high level', or general, view of a technology landscape in the field of backlighting and light guides. The 'peaks' show high levels of patent filing, while the 'valleys' demonstrate low levels of patent activity. Our technology enables us to zoom in on any particular area and also to drill down into any patent cluster to identify the owners and the specific technology.

An analysis of Software Company B's business plan revealed that Company B only required a limited number (drives 3, 8, 11 and 15) of the data analysis information which Company A had developed as part of a R&D project which resulted in the development of a total of 31 data analysis drives. Company B had, as is often the case, sought to automatically licence all the assets resulting from the R&D, but this was proved to be unnecessary so Company A only licensed the hard drives which Company B required to provide the service; therefore, Company A was free to licence any other hard drives in the same territory in which Company B was operating. This approach ensures maximum flexibility and potential income from licensing activity.

IP Harvest will ensure your investee licenses only the technology which your licensee needs, not what your licensee wants.

This chart shows the different technology areas resulting from a life science-type project each of which were protected by patents. It contributes to the choice of licensing strategy. For example, high specification equipment manufacture ('Detection' and 'Microfluidics') can be charged at much higher rates than, say, 'Sample Preparation').

IP Harvest can provide expert licensing strategy advice.

IP Harvest can provide a system which tracks the income/cost of each individual asset included in a licence, so that your investee can see which assets create the most wealth, and which assets should be discarded. Such management activity of your IP portfolio enables decisions based on hard facts to be taken regarding the ongoing protection or sale/abandonment of expensive IP.

Your investee or their R&D provider may need access to third party IP in order to conduct planned research. IP Harvest will ensure that the third party IP has a clear ownership trail, and that the contracted R&D provider is free to use the IP for your investee's purposes.

Using the technology landscape in Fig 1, we find there are approximately 19,000 patents with the words 'light' and guide' and 'plate' in the title or the abstract. Each patent is classified with one or more International Patent Classifications (IPCs). For example, IPC G02B6/00 includes: "Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings". 3,726 of these 19,000 patents are classified as being in this category. We can identify which category, or categories, the technology will fall into, and see how many patents are already filed in that sector.

We can further refine the list of patents so that your client can see exactly which of their competitors are filing patents in which technologies and in which territories they are seeking protection. This analysis can be used for a number of commercial purposes including understanding where they believe the opportunities are greatest, identifying potential co-developers for new technologies or identifying potential IP barriers to proposed R&D activities in advance thereby enabling opportunities to in-licence or acquire third party IP before committing valuable resources.

This chart gives an overview of the patenting activities of a particular company over the last 30 years. The different colours represent different International Patent Classifications (different technical areas), and the height of the bars displays the levels of patenting activity. This would give your client a very good idea of the current strategies and technology investment trends which their main competitors are implementing.

Using published patent data, we can also provide territorial market data in any technology area. This chart shows the territorial distribution of year-on-year patenting activity (the 'invention velocity') in particular electronics markets. This type of chart could also be used to demonstrate territorial market data where we have zoomed in on particular territories or technologies or companies.

Using industrial data, estimates can also be made of R&D spend in particular technology areas. Patent data reveal the patenting activity in any particular technological area.

Therefore, a realistic estimate of the investment made (by companies or countries) in a particular technology can be made.

IP Harvest has a global network of licensing professionals and can access data to enable comparison of typical license deals in the same or similar technology sector as your client. That information can provide them with a valuable insight into the potential value of new, or yet to be developed IP, so that they can make an informed decision on how to structure any licensing arrangements or whether a particular research area is likely to produce the levels of income necessary to justify the investment.

Most patent owners have no idea their patents have been cited by other organisations in their own patent applications. Such citations can be on a grand scale. These other organisations may be potential development collaborators, they might be interested in being acquired by your client or acquiring them. They could even be using your client's technology without permission therefore creating the opportunity for your client to generate multiple streams of income.

IP Harvest can identify which organisations have cited your clients existing published patents and patent applications and can provide them with the key data to enable strategic decisions to be taken. For example, they can then decide whether, or not, to request royalty payments from potential patent infringers.

IP Harvest can provide a system which tracks the income/cost of each individual asset included in a licence, so that your client can see which assets create the most wealth, and which assets should be discarded. Such management activity of the IP portfolio enables decisions based on hard facts to be taken regarding the ongoing protection or sale/abandonment of expensive IP.