IP benchmarking provides a deep understanding of competitive positioning, strengths, weaknesses, and inherent risks associated with your portfolio. It sheds light on where you can leverage a strong IP position for competitive advantage or identify areas vulnerable to threats from competitors. IP benchmarking should be done periodically (e.g. yearly) to ensure IP strategy is in sync with business strategy at all times. To be thorough, IP professionals, subject-matter experts, and senior management should be involved in the exercise.
The figure below shows the steps for conducting a successful IP benchmarking activity:
Furthermore, IP benchmarking activities can be grouped into two types: internally-focused benchmarking and externally-focused benchmarking. Let us discuss these two types in detail.
- Internally-focused IP benchmarking
This type of benchmarking is performed to evaluate the level of protection offered by your IP portfolio. You must map your patents against your current products and technologies to check if their unique aspects are well protected. For any unique technology, you must protect your core inventive step. Then you need to verify if surrounding or derivative technologies related to it are also protected. Basically, this helps verify if you have created a robust IP fence around your inventions. During the process, you may find that some patents are no longer directly related to your current products or focus areas. Additionally, a portfolio acquired via M & A or technology acquisition can also cause redundancies that must be identified.
Read the full article on — What is IP Benchmarking and Why Does It Matter to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your company in detail.
