PATENT EXPLOITATION STRATEGY: A PORTFOLIO-BASED PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Significant challenges impede patent exploitation: patent invalidation, uncertain scope, ambiguous patent/product linkage, evolving legal regime, all of which complicate licensing negotiation and force parties into disruptive litigation. It is difficult, if not impossible, to alleviate these problems at individual patent level. However, strategically aggregating individual patents into a “portfolio” might present a solution. My thesis attempted to contribute in this regard. Chapter.I furthers the understanding of patent portfolio by establishing a “Three-Connectivity” framework to describe the underlying structural elements of a portfolio. Chapter.II examines software patenting in biomedical industry, and discusses the relevance of software-related biomedical patents from the perspective of portfolio structure. Chapter.III highlights the influences of environmental determinants on the price of technology licensing, a perspective rarely considered in literature. Chapter.IV focuses on an obvious and yet neglected facilitator of patent exploitation – patent attorney, and proposes an intermediation model for such professional to participate in patent exploitation.