patent engineering (pat’ 'nt en’jɘ-nêr’ɲ)

a) The application of scientific, mathematical, legal, and business principles to obtain, create, or improve patent positions that support business goals.

b) The profession of, or the work performed by, a patent engineer

Despite their growing importance to business, patents are still acquired by most companies the old-fashioned way: inventors in one part of the company invent and patent attorneys in another part of the company (or in a firm external to the company) obtain patents.

The result of this Invention Strategy is a patent porfolio reflecting the R&D priorities of the company and focused on protecting the company's innovations. The result is a defensive patent portfolio: well-suited for the enjoyment of exclusivity. Where the business model requires market exclusivity and a portfolio of defensive patents, such as with perscription drugs, this is a perfectly adequate strategy for obtaining patents.

But for complex technologies, such as telecommunications, computers, software, acquiring patents like this is very nearly exactly the wrong thing to do. Patent engineering recognizes that a successful business strategy can not rely on "the right patents" spontaneously arising from R&D. Instead, patent engineering recognizes that patents - and patent positions - must be purposefully engineered in order to satisfy specific business goals. Business has changed and the way businesses obtain patents must change too.

The role of the patent engineer is work together with inventors, business developers, and lawyers in order to obtain or create patents, patented products, and patent positions that support the company's business goals.

Contact Avvika AB to see how patent engineering can work for you.