I recently received a call from a friend who expressed that his company is struggling with helping inventors identify a point of novelty for their ideas in their invention disclosure forms (IDFs), and as a result, it has been difficult to decide whether or not to move forward with their invention ideas.
As my friend is well aware, pursuing patent protection for a company’s inventions developed in the course of product development projects may deliver significant value back to the company. For example, a strong patent portfolio may protect investment in research and development, increase market and/or company value, secure market position, generate licensing revenue, and serve as a strong bargaining chip in cross-licensing negotiations. For these reasons, many companies task individuals, such as my friend, with supporting business and engineering units to harvest invention disclosures.