Intellectual property management method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method for managing resource allocations within an intellectual property portfolio, said method comprising:
- (i) determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system;
(ii) assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system;
(iii) apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on available resource capacity;
(iv) obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and
(v) managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An intellectual property management facility for proactively creating, developing and managing an intellectual property portfolio includes: determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system; assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system; apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on the value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on available resource capacity; obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute.
24 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A method for managing resource allocations within an intellectual property portfolio, said method comprising:
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(i) determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system;
(ii) assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system;
(iii) apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on available resource capacity;
(iv) obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and
(v) managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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15. A method for managing invention disclosures, comprising:
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determining a desired number of invention disclosures based on available resources;
apportioning the desired number of invention disclosures by a plurality of technical attributes based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes;
tracking an actual number of invention disclosures by technical attribute and comparing the actual number of invention disclosures with the desired number of invention disclosures; and
responsive to the comparing, proactively managing at least one of invention disclosure creation and invention disclosure evaluation for patent searching or patent application filing.
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25. A data structure for facilitating managing resource allocations within an intellectual property portfolio, said data structure comprising:
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a first field including actual resource usage for an intellectual property activity by technical attributes over a first time period;
a second field including actual resource usage for the intellectual property activity by technical attributes over a second time period, wherein the second time period is longer than the first time period; and
wherein comparison of information within the first field and the second field facilitates managing resource allocations for the intellectual property activity within the intellectual property portfolio.
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31. Apparatus for managing resource allocations within an intellectual property portfolio, said apparatus comprising:
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means for determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system;
means for assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system;
means for apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on available resource capacity;
means for obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and
means for managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. Apparatus for managing invention disclosures, comprising:
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means for determining a desired number of invention disclosures based on available resources;
means for apportioning the desired number of invention disclosures by a plurality of technical attributes based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes;
means for tracking an actual number of invention disclosures by technical attribute and for comparing the actual number of invention disclosures by technical attribute with the desired number of invention disclosures; and
means for proactively managing, responsive to the means for comparing, at least one of invention disclosure creation, and invention disclosure evaluation for patent searching or patent application filing.
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44. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of managing resource allocations within an intellectual property portfolio, said method comprising:
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(i) determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system;
(ii) assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system;
(iii) apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on the available resource capacity;
(iv) obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and
(v) managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of managing invention disclosures, said method comprising:
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determining a desired number of invention disclosures based on available resources;
apportioning the desired number of invention disclosures by a plurality of technical attributes based on a value assigned to each of the technical attributes;
tracking an actual number of invention disclosures by technical attribute and comparing the actual number of invention disclosures with the desired number of invention disclosures; and
responsive to the comparing, proactively managing at least one of invention disclosure creation and invention disclosure evaluation for patent searching or patent application filing.
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Specification