RWS IP Monitor – A better way to gain intelligence
24 Aug 2023
7 mins
Regularly monitoring the Intellectual Property landscape for competitor patent activity, new technologies and innovations can stimulate R&D efforts, giving businesses a competitive edge.
In this article we will draw upon more than 60 years of Intellectual Property research experience, to help you understand the building blocks of an effective Current Awareness program.
Forewarned is forearmed
First and foremost, one should understand the insights that can be gained via patent monitoring. There is both legal and business intelligence that can help you avoid risks and develop product strategies.
To this end, regular reports of new publications allow you to keep abreast of the latest developments and be proactive in mitigating identified risks and recognizing opportunities.
The information contained within the reports lets you track competitor patent activity, identify emerging risks to products under development and Identify licensing (in/out) opportunities, to name but a few examples.
Ongoing value
Monitoring identifies intelligence that can be useful in many ways, but having that intelligence on an aggregator platform can turn the resulting data into lasting assets. Regular reports feed into an ever-expanding corpus of data over time, helping you to see not only the trees but the evolving forest as well.
The corpus can be further supplemented by uploading results of one-off studies (Freedom to Operate/Clearance searches, State-of-the-Art searches, Invalidity investigations, etc.), effectively creating an information repository that is aligned to technologies of interest.
The platform provides an easily accessible source of intelligence delivering ongoing competitive advantage. For example, it can help guide FTO programs as well as R&D efforts.
Technology matters
A robust platform will leverage technology to do more than simply store the data. This is a fundamental requirement to deriving maximum long-term value out of a Current Awareness program. An effective aggregator will support client-side review and analysis, whilst facilitating communication between interested parties, such as colleagues, analysts, outside counsel, etc.
Anticipating “next steps” and client workflow is key to creating value. To that end, the aggregator may be functionally integrated into a commercial patent database, an add-on companion application, or an IP research delivery platform operated by a professional search provider; one example of such a platform is AOP Connect, the proprietary in-house platform developed by RWS.
Final piece of the puzzle
With an effective platform and partner in place, the last key ingredient is an effective IP Analyst. A skilled analyst will develop a coherent, overarching strategy, filtering results to ensure that only relevant material is reported. They can also perform follow up search projects that may arise from risks or opportunities uncovered by the Current Awareness program.
If this sounds of value for your business, please contact our Sales team for more information about the RWS IP Monitor. The service lets you track competitor patent portfolio activity, new technologies, designs and innovations in your areas of interest.
We can customize the investigation to target specific applicants, inventors, classifications or key words, and create tailored alert profiles so you never miss an update. This article is an excerpt from our latest IP Research Ebook IP Monitor: A Smarter Way to Gain Intelligence. You can download a full copy of the eBook for free here.
Peter Shea
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