Tracking Innovation

One of the questions we like to ask IP Asset Managers is what sort of system they have in place to help them with their job.   Is it a reactive system?   Do they rely on their innovators to disclose what is being created, or do they have a more proactive system that tracks innovation from the outset?

There are a number of problems with relying on innovators to make the disclosure.   To start with, their research and source documents are usually stored in ways that make tracking and assessment very difficult.

In October we attended the Tonkin Corporation’s 5^th Annual IP Management, Commercialisation and Protection Conference in Sydney.   Many intellectual asset management methods were discussed there, but the more impressive ones:

·        Have a central repository for to manage all aspects of the IP asset workflow, ensuring that the enterprise has an up to date intellectual asset register at all times.

·        Require their innovators to disclose their progress and research very early in the creative process.

·        Use up to date methods and tools to track innovative activity throughout the enterprise.

·        Use appropriate searching techniques and alert systems to flag infringement both internally and externally.

Not having the right information makes intellectual asset management a difficult task.   The good news is that now there are a lot of tools available to assist with this problem.