ipPerformance Client Results – Case Studies
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Project: Intellectual Property Management Program and Legal Department Review, Practices, Metrics, and Technology
Client: International Industrial Manufacturing Company
We helped this company reduce its patent procurement backlog to almost zero and accelerate its invention idea submissions.
Summary: The Chief IP Counsel (CIPC) engaged ipPerformance to review the company’s global IP practices, which included intellectual property asset management and legal operations, to determine how it could achieve functional excellence. We evaluated its organizational structure, process efficiencies, performance metrics, and software systems at multiple locations.
ipPerformance provided a comprehensive review and recommendations, including process flow maps, operational improvement opportunities (immediate-impact and long-term), a best-practices project road map, operational and strategic metrics, industry benchmark comparisons, and practices competency analysis.
Our guidance and recommendations led to significant reductions in the company’s patent filing backlog, elimination of patent procurement of unwarranted cases, restructuring of the patent department, and assignment of patent attorneys to improve client services, eliminate redundant activities, improve business leadership support, and increase and accelerate invention submissions.
Project: Review and Recommendations for Intellectual Property Department Business-Aligned Performance Measures
Client: International Consumer Packaged Goods Company
Summary: ipPerformance worked with the Chief Patent Counsel, patent lawyers, business leaders, the chief technology officer, and R&D management to establish performance measures that track the impact of patents on revenue and profits in each business unit.
We also adapted the ipPerformance invention value tool to score invention submissions and guide patent protection decisions, improving patent filing decisions and reducing unnecessary patent filings.
The changes improved management’s understanding of the patent program’s value and the strategic alignment of patent decisions and patent portfolios, which now better support the business strategy and align more closely with growth areas.
Project: Patent Law Department Operations Review – Attorney and Legal Administration
Client: International Consumer Electronics Company
Summary: ipPerformance worked with a business leader and senior patent attorney to comprehensively evaluate the patent department’s work processes and staffing (intake and administration process and interface with outside counsel) to identify organizational improvements. This included assessing attorney and administrative workloads, duties, and relationships with business groups and R&D leadership, development teams, and law firms.
The company implemented enhancements to its patent procurement administration that dramatically reduced manual activity, streamlined processes, and balanced workloads. These changes provided significant workflow efficiencies and enabled increased workloads with existing staff. The company also established practices that helped senior attorneys improve efficiency, giving them more time to work closely with business and R&D leaders.
Standardize and Implement Standard Operating Procedures and Policies for Intellectual Property Asset Management
Client: Global Automotive Company
Summary:
ipPerformance worked with the IP leader to establish corporate-wide documented and standardized intellectual property policies and procedures. We provided the organization with our online intellectual property knowledge system, IP Center of Excellence, available throughout the enterprise.
The IP Center of Excellence includes step-by-step procedures for all key IP activities, procedure policies, standard forms, key activity contacts, an IP management charter, an IP training curriculum, and an inventor reward and recognition program (procedures and benefits).
Deployment of this system led to a 200% increase in invention disclosure submissions. In addition to better inventor support and participation, it improves company stakeholder understanding of intellectual property procedures and business value, resulting in outstanding business support and advocacy.
Project: Conduct an Intellectual Property Strategies Framework Workshop
Client – A Large Multinational Chemicals Company
Summary: ipPerformance provided the Chief IP Counsel (CIPC) and senior team with the One-Page IP strategies framework, which included step-by-step procedures, planning templates, and plans for roles and responsibilities. We conducted a customized on-site workshop to teach IP attorneys and business and technology leaders how to implement and integrate IP strategies with the company’s annual business strategy planning process.
Additionally, IP stakeholders were taught about tools and methods for evaluating and organizing internal and external patent landscapes that can assist them in identifying acquisition and partnering targets, competitive intelligence, and potential risks.
As a result of the company’s implementation of our intellectual property strategy framework, patent filings are more targeted, portfolio business value has increased, and proactive technology partner identification strategies were executed that reduced R&D costs, speed to market, and risk.
Project: Evaluate Trademark Management Practices in Multinational Brand-Driven Companies
Client: Large Consumer Electronics Manufacturer
Summary: ipPerformance conducted a comprehensive trademark management benchmark of seven leading multinational brand-driven companies with large trademark portfolios. The study aimed to identify best practices for strategy development and decisions, licensing considerations and management approach, professional and support staffing, portfolio management, software systems, training, infringement and anti-counterfeiting monitoring, dispute and enforcement, client support, and personnel roles and responsibilities. ipPerformance provided a compilation of feedback, best practices, and key themes from trademark management leaders.
The benchmark results included a gap analysis and articulating best practices for managing a world-class trademark program. It allowed the company to identify deficiencies vs. established and reputable companies. This led to restructuring organizational responsibilities to improve alignment and responsiveness, improve workflow to gain process efficiencies and add performance measures to track business unit costs and trademark value. The report was essential to educate and gain support and advocacy from top management to commence changes.
Project: Benchmark leading IT Services Companies Patent Protection Practices
Client: Large Global Information Technology Services Company
Summary: ipPerformance conducted a comprehensive benchmark of nine reputable information technology companies with global operations to identify best patent protection practices. The investigation evaluated patent protection strategies, infringement detection and escalation, outside counsel management, professional and support staffing, portfolio management, software systems, training, disputes and enforcement, outside counsel management, and inventor reward programs. ipPerformance provided a compilation of the feedback and critical themes from patent management leaders, including a gap analysis with identified best practices.
The gap analysis was used to educate and gain support from top management to implement best practice changes. These changes resulted in many initiatives and results, including increased business and inventor support and lowered costs. At the same time, they strengthened their patent portfolio and aligned it with their business growth strategy. And they reduced costs through better outside counsel management.
Project: Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Inventor Reward and Recognition Program
Client: Large Global Chemicals Company
Summary: ipPerformance reviewed the inventor motivation program and their understanding of the company’s intellectual property program. The purpose was to identify improvements that would enable the company to improve the number of valuable invention disclosures and increase the number of new inventors submitting ideas.
Changes implemented based on this project yielded significant improvements in high-value invention disclosure submissions, patentable inventions, and speedier review processes.
Project: Monetize Portfolio- Identify Intellectual Property Assets For Licensing
Client: Global High Technology Company
Summary: ipPerformance reviewed the company’s patent portfolio to identify the best IP assets for monetization (i.e., licensing, cross-licensing, assertion, or another form of value extraction) and countering disputes (claims). The company’s patent and trade secret portfolio were organized into a database that reflected patent value, use classifications, and technology taxonomies.
The analysis provided a list of top patent license opportunities with an estimate of the licensing opportunity magnitude and potential targets, as well as assets used to counter disputes and negotiate cross-licenses that reduced licensing costs and mitigated litigation and financial exposure. The database enabled company leadership to understand how the portfolio supported the business, licensable assets, and gaps and potential risks.
In the following three years, the company realized IP contributions of millions of dollars of value with new products and technology, better M&A opportunities, and deals to achieve global penetration and monetize a patent portfolio.
Project: Strategic Review, Reorganization, and Redefinition of Intellectual Property Attorney Roles
Client: Leading High Technology Software Company
Summary: ipPerformance worked with the intellectual property vice president and their legal team to strategically review organizational performance, capabilities, and infrastructure.
Using the ipPerformance intellectual property program competency analysis, we identified areas where the company outperformed and underperformed against peer companies. This gap analysis was used to correlate to performance measure variances. In addition to the improvement action plan developed to improve internal practices, the legal team used analysis insights to implement outside counsel guidelines, which led to a 50 percent reduction in law firm costs.
Project: Strategic Review of Patent Portfolios
Client- Large Medical Research Center
Summary: ipPerformance worked with patent counsel at the client’s law firm, business leaders, and lead scientists to evaluate an extensive portfolio that fell into 12 technology groupings to determine prospective licensees and licensable value.
We identified a group of high-value patents and recommended a list of qualifying potential licensees.
