Traditionally, IP management software tools have not dealt with managing IP value. They have, instead, focused on managing the tasks involved in patent prosecution and licensing. These are the type of activities that docketing and licensing software systems have focused on for years.

This is a limited view of IP management. While managing responses to office actions and processing annuities is important, it is only one part of the whole of IP management. It ignores the majority of IP management functions that are necessary to discover, secure, and monetize IP in a corporation.

The emerging view of IP is that of an asset whose value changes over time. In the beginning, IP may have very little value. It is an unformed idea or something scribbled on the back of a napkin. As time goes on, the IP gains in value. Finally, as the technology derived from the IP becomes old, the value of the IP declines.

An IP lifecycle based on value would encompass four broad stages. First is the generation of the IP. At this stage there is only potential value. Capturing and securing IP is important to insure it's future value. In other words, even IP in the process of forming should be treated as having value in order to insure that it can be monetized later.

IP gains in value when it is identified as IP. This usually happens though a series of processes such as IP Audits or Invention Disclosure and Review. Not only is the IP itself identified but the true value of the IP is recognized and decisions are made as to how to monetize it.

The third phase, monetize, is where traditional IP management techniques are usually employed. At this point the value of the IP has to be secured through legal processes. Patent prosecution, freedom-to-operate, and similar processes are used to protect that value. Eventually, IP becomes fully realized as a product or through licensing, creating revenue for the inventors. Releasing the IP into the public domain is also a way to monetize IP by providing competitive advantage or enhancing goodwill and technology leadership.

Finally, IP gets old. It begins to lose value as the technology, products, and brands based on it get old. Even trademarks, which tend to remain useful for long periods of time, can get stale and diminish in value. In this end stage, decline, value diminishes until it arrives at a terminal point. During decline, the trick is try to balance the remaining value of the IP against the cost of maintaining it. Decisions need to be made that may lead to divestiture of IP through sale or releasing it into the public domain.

A lifecycle approach to IP management recognizes that IP is a ubiquitous asset within a corporation. It manages that asset in accordance with its value. Tools that manage the IP lifecycle cannot focus only on the legal tasks of patent prosecution. Instead, support for a wide range of activities that help to identify, secure, monetize, and manage the declining value of IP are necessary in order to maximize that value.

InnovationQ, IP.com's IP management software, was built with this philosophy in mind. There are many tools that manage tasks for attorneys. InnovationQ manages the lifecycle of IP. It secures IP early on and efficiently manages processes throughout the lifetime of IP assets.