Patent Portfolio Analysis

The core stage of the broader CPA Global patent portfolio optimisation methodology is the portfolio analysis stage which answers the question: Where is the value in our patent portfolio?  Once a complete understanding of all the pending or granted patent assets is achieved it is then possible to perform more detailed analysis of the portfolio to understand how the patents map to products and strategic business goals and most importantly identify the relevant strength of all patents within the portfolio regardless of their product or strategic value to their owners.  Only when all patents have been analysed and classified in this way will it be possible to making fully informed decisions about the management of the portfolio as a whole and of patents individually.  By combining and overlaying an understanding of strategic (core/non-core) patents with an analysis of their strength and value a detailed portfolio segmentation can be developed.  Again there are three key components in the portfolio analysis stage of the process.  These are outlined below:

Business Objectives Review

A business objectives review is something that is primarily carried out within a corporation.  Although CPA Global can help in providing the structure and impetus for such a review it is essentially an internal task to fully understand and document the full range of products and technologies that currently require patent protection and also to identify future strategic directions where patent protection will be required. This should include not only the core and known strategies but also be broad enough to cover emerging or pioneering strategic and technology initiatives.  Once the business objectives review is completed it will be possible in the later segmentation phase to identify those patents that are core to the operation and future of a corporation and those that can be abandoned or monetised.

Patent Portfolio Strength Assessment

At the heart of CPA Global’s Patent Portfolio Optimisation services is the Patent Strength Assessment phase.   We have experience in delivering a range of patent intelligence techniques to analyse, score and determine relative value of individual patents or a whole portfolio to support your portfolio optimisation decisions.  These techniques include:

• Age-adjusted forward citation scoring
• A patented, industry and technology specific, statistical analysis using over 30 individual parameters
• Expert analysis of individual patents by subject matter experts

Depending on your specific requirements we can recommend and provide the right single technique or combination of scoring and analysis techniques.  In many cases a combination of these techniques can be used to go through an iterative process to “filter” patent assets and only introduce the more detailed expert assessment once potential high value candidates have been identified through a more automated statistical patent strength assessment.

Patent Portfolio Segmentation

The final stage in the Portfolio Analysis phase of CPA Global’s optimisation process is the portfolio segmentation.  By combining the right strength assessment techniques with a business objectives review it is possible to create a fully segmented patent portfolio This can then be used to segment the portfolio into a two dimensional matrix of core and non-core patents against patent strength and therefore potential patent value.  This segmentation can then be used to answer the final question in the portfolio optimisation process: How can we realise value from our patent portfolio?