Stephen Carter

Always remember that there are multiple ways to commercialise a patented invention, including manufacturing and selling the product, licensing someone else to manufacture / sell, or even selling the patent itself. My biggest tip, however, is to not set out down the patent route until you know how you plan to monetise the patent. Not only will this help shape the patent strategy but it will also help inform whether the investment in the patent is worth it in the first place. The plan might change over time - and there is nothing wrong with that - but to seek patents without any initial plan in place is foolish!

In my experience, businesses often fail to consider the options for protection beyond patents. Be sure to consider the other IP rights mentioned here (trade secrets, etc) and have a plan - a good IP strategy, with associated processes, will guide you through the decision making around IP protection and save you re-inventing the wheel each time. A good IP strategy will also address the question of exploitation of your IP. Most importantly, the IP strategy must not be considered in isolation. Rather, especially for IP-driven businesses, it should be an integral part of your overall business strategy.

A common mistake, in my experience, is ignoring the IP rights (especially patents) of others. Your innovative work could be entirely wasted if you launch, only to find out your are infringing someone else's patent! My advice is to consider patent searches early in the innovation process, giving you the opportunity to steer around others' patents and perhaps even get inspiration and insights from the patents revealed by the search.

One super important aspect of a successful product launch that is often overlooked is the question of "freedom to operate" - that is, asking whether any one else (especially close competitors) have intellectual property (IP) rights, e.g. patents, that could block you. It is best to consider this early in the product development process. With knowledge of your potential competitor's patents in the early design stages, you are often able to build your product in a way that avoids infringement. If you ignore the rights of others then, worst case, you launch and are quickly hit with a law suit alleging patent infringement, potentially forcing you to cease sales and pay compensation for the sales already made!

Another great way to learn from others is by reviewing the patent landscape. Published patent applications can be a great source of inspiration for your own product innovation.

Often overlooked but a great source for inspiration are patent search tools, such as espacenet and Google patent search. Published patent applications can provide some great insights into the way others in your field are thinking. Obviously, you need to be careful not to infringe the patent rights of others but there are many published patent application that never progressed to grant and from which you can therefore freely borrow ideas.