Strategic Patenting

Most people think of patenting after something has been “invented.” Increasingly, many corporations are patenting before the invention has been demonstrated physically (but after it has been conceived).

Lee Murrah, a patent attorney with a passion for innovation at Meritor Automotive, has come up with a “Window on Patent Values.” Murrah's window offers a clarifying perspective on the underlying motivations for patenting inventions. His window also describes the different types of invention workshops we have organized and facilitated over the past five years. 

Instead of waiting for the moment of invention before applying for a patent (i.e., “retrospective,” or patenting after the fact), many corporations are patenting the results of “thought experiments” (i.e., “prospective,” or patenting before the fact). While many regard “prospective” patents as merely “paper patents,” increasingly these prospective patents are commanding respect from rather large corporations.

Many view the value of patents as relevant only to technology that falls within the scope of their current business. However, as companies like Texas Instruments are demonstrating, owning intellectual property in areas outside your current scope of business may provide you with not only a healthy source of income from fees, but also leverage with competitors, suppliers and even customers.  

What value a patent retains for the holder depends upon where it shows up in the Patent Window. Retrospective patents most often prevent copying and are written that way. However, retrospective patents can also be created and used to gain leverage with other players in the industry, even where there is much prior art. Someone may, for example, patent a better way to implement another's invention, thereby gaining some bargaining power with the “original” patent holder. Prospective patents, on the other hand, can either preserve the envisioned future, or they can “prospect” options that attract other inventions, investment and ultimately, by means of technology, influence end-user behavior.

What are your patents worth?  It all depends upon what your are trying to accomplish with them. But whatever your reasons, conceptual inventions (that you patent) may be a cost effective way to strengthen your portfolio and preserve your options.

This article was originally published in Innovating Perspectives in March 1999. For this and other back issues of our newsletter, please visit our website at innovationsthatwork.com or call (415) 460-1313.