CEN/TS 16555-4:2014

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2015
Upravljanje inovacij - 4. del: Upravljanje intelektualne lastnine
Innovation management - Part 4: Intellectual property management
Innovationsmanagement - Management von Intellectual Property
Management de l'innovation - Partie 4 : Management de la propriété intellectuelle
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TS 16555-4:2014
ICS:
03.100.40 Raziskave in razvoj Research and development
03.100.50 Proizvodnja. Vodenje Production. Production
proizvodnje management
03.140 Patenti. Intelektualna lastnina Patents. Intellectual property
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
CEN/TS 16555-4
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
December 2014
ICS 03.100.40; 03.100.50; 03.140
English Version
Innovation management - Part 4: Intellectual property
management
Management de l'innovation - Partie 4 : Management de la Innovationsmanagement - Teil 4: Management des
propriété intellectuelle geistigen Eigentums
This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 27 October 2014 for provisional application.

The period of validity of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to submit their
comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard.

CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS available
promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in parallel to the CEN/TS)
until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United
Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2014 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TS 16555-4:2014 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword .3
Introduction .4
1 Scope .5
2 Normative references .5
3 Terms and definitions .5
4 Concept and purpose of intellectual property management .6
5 The intellectual property strategy .8
5.1 The role of top management .8
5.2 Interactions with various functions .9
5.3 Competences and skills requirements . 10
5.4 Budget and cost control . 11
5.5 Communication . 11
6 Implementation of the IP strategy . 12
6.1 Traceability . 12
6.2 IP decision making . 12
6.3 Strategic intelligence and risk management . 13
6.4 IPR portfolio development, management and exploitation . 14
6.4.1 Structuring IPR portfolio . 14
6.4.2 Analysis of the potential IPR . 14
6.4.3 Intellectual property exploitation . 15
6.4.4 Acquisition, sale, concession and licensing (-in and -out) of third parties IP rights . 16
Annex A (informative) Authenticated documentation to record IP . 17
Annex B (informative) Innovation and invention disclosure . 18
Annex C (normative) Methods and criteria for the assessment of IP rights . 19
C.1 Objectives and principles . 19
C.2 Strategic criteria. 20
C.3 Qualitative criteria. 22
C.4 Quantitative criteria . 23
Annex D (informative) IP and standardization . 26
D.1 General . 26
D.2 Various strategies of the organization relayed by intellectual property . 27
Annex E (informative) Intellectual property management in a collaborative environment . 28
E.1 Introduction . 28
E.2 Definition . 28
E.3 Scope of collaborative contexts . 29
E.4 Different types of collaboration in the innovation process . 29
E.5 Legal . 30
E.6 Collaboration to create; impact of financing sources on IP ownership, assignment . 31
E.7 General best practices to comply with . 31
Bibliography . 33

Foreword
This document (CEN/TS 16555-4:2014) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 389 “Innovation
Management”, the secretariat of which is held by AENOR.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document is not intended for the purpose of certification.
The CEN/TS 16555 series consists of the following parts with the general title Innovation management:
— Part 1: Innovation Management System;
— Part 2: Strategic intelligence management;
— Part 3: Innovation thinking;
— Part 4: Intellectual property management;
— Part 5: Collaboration management;
— Part 6: Creativity management;
— Part 7: Innovation management assessment.
Part 7 is in preparation.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Introduction
This Technical Specification CEN/TS 16555-4 is linked to CEN/TS 16555-1:2013 (especially to
CEN/TS 16555-1:2013, 11.4).
The effective management of intellectual property, developed as a lever and a tool to support the process of
innovation, is a necessary prerequisite for organizations' development, growth and protection of their
competitiveness. Intellectual property management thus supports, gives rise to and enhances outcomes of the
innovation process.
Intellectual property management includes observation and analysis of third parties' intellectual property, for
instance, for the purpose of achieving freedom to operate for an organization's products.
In order to adequately address intellectual property management, the organization should consider the
following:
— intellectual property strategy, as an integral part of the organization's business strategy;
— intellectual property strategy, as an integral part of innovation management strategy;
— the safeguarding of the potential intellectual property throughout the entire organization;
— methods used to manage and use intellectual property as a support of business strategy, for example
traceability, protection);
— applicable legislation in the territories or regions under consideration;
— costs of obtaining and maintaining intellectual property and possible enforcement costs which could
ensue;
— differences in the contribution of various public authorities to acquiring IP rights and promoting practices
throughout the world;
— methods of protecting ‘know-how’, where appropriate.
In this Technical Specification, the terms intellectual property and intellectual property rights are precisely
defined, and are given a broad and general definition in Clause 3.
1 Scope
This Technical Specification provides guidance to assist an organization to identify, capture, and safeguard
intellectual property, in order to:
— provide organizations with an overview of the fundamental principles of intellectual property management,
in the context of the innovation process;
— promote best practices in intellectual property matters that result in efficiently acquiring intellectual
property, while increasing the organizations’ ability to effectively address intellectual property owned by
third parties.
This Technical Specification is applicable to all types of organization, including the public sector. Special
consideration has been given to the needs of SMEs.
2 Normative references
Not applicable.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
background
pre-existing IP that a party brings to a collaborative joint venture
3.2
foreground
intellectual property and/or intellectual property rights that are collectively generated by the one or more of
parties within a collaborative joint venture
3.3
freedom to operate
state wherein a product or service is not exposed to IP other than own IPR or licensed-in IPR
3.4
intellectual property (IP)
part of intellectual assets owned by a person or organization as a result of creations of the mind or the intellect
Note 1 to entry: Intellectual property can be either registered (i.e. statutory) or unregistered (i.e. non statutory or
owned by default without any specific registration action).
3.5
intellectual property rights (IPR)
legally protected intellectual property which can be registered and unregistered
3.6
side ground
IP that may be generated by a party during the period of the collaborative joint venture, but specifically
excluded from the scope of the joint venture
4 Concept and purpose of intellectual property management
IP management involves identifying, tracing along time, deciding on publishing and potentially safeguarding IP
on an individual IP level. IP to be managed includes technical inventions, trademarks, software, know-how,
etc.
Core aspects of IP management are:
— identifying and managing IP created within the organization;
— identifying IP held by other organizations;
— managing the organization's IP rights portfolio through the discovery, acquisition, maintenance, trading
and relinquishing of IP rights (see 6.4);
— identifying, mitigating and managing risks emerging from other organizations' IP rights and determining
level of freedom to operate for innovation created by the innovation process. An innovation created by the
innovation process may achieve a high level of freedom to operate or may, by hedging against risks from
other organizations, create legal risks for them;
— supporting the innovation process and safeguarding results emerging from it.
The organization should begin the IP management process by identifying and tracing IP, then making
management decisions as to how to deal with such identified IP. These decisions depend of the type of IP.
IP management should take appropriate measures to secure confidentiality with respect to otherwise
unprotected IP such as know-how, invention disclosure, trade secret, or yet unfiled patent applications.
Intellectual property can be protected by a variety of legal rights. Some IP rights come into existence
automatically (e.g. copyright), some need to be registered (e.g. patents), and for some registration is an option
which can provide additional benefits (e.g. trademarks). In some cases there are strict criteria and dates which
should be adhered to. This applies particularly to patents (for technical inventions), where premature public
disclosure, or failing to meet deadline dates can invalidate the protection. Since IP rights can vary between
jurisdictions, it is important to check the rules in the countries where protection is required.
In all cases, it is important to be able to provide evidence of creation, in case challenged. In practice this
means that evidence, legally acceptable in a court of law, should be kept to prove date of creation,
contributors and their relative contributions.
For technical inventions:
— keeping IP proprietary by means of confidentiality or by means of legal protection;
— making IP public to ensure the IP remains publicly available and cannot be protected by others;
— documentation and register maintenance of use of IP;
NOTE See Annex A.
— registering of or licensing-in of other organizations' IP rights to achieve freedom to operate;
— licensing-out the organization's IP;
— challenging other organizations' IP rights to achieve freedom to operate.
For trademarks:
— acquisition of trademarks;
— observing use of organization's trademarks;
— observing other organizations' trademark activities;
— challenging other organizations' trademark IP rights if they conflict.
For copyrights including software:
— documentation of creation and use of copyright-protectable creations such as printed publications,
software, etc.
For designs:
— application of design rights and patents;
— observing other organizations' design protection activities;
— acquisition of or licensing-in other organizations' design rights and patents to achieve freedom to operate;
— invalidating other organizations' design rights and patents to achieve freedom to operate.
The organization should refer to 6.2 and Figure 1 below for criteria to be applied in IP decision making.

Figure 1 — IP decision tree
The IP rights portfolio management should be customized to suit the particular product field, the level of
collaborative activity and the protection required in each territory (see 6.4).
The IP management process should continuously monitor and be administratively interlinked with the
innovation process (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 — Interaction of IP in the innovation process
The purpose of IP management is to support the innovation strategy (see CEN/TS 16555-1) and to safeguard
results emerging from it.
IP management is the management of an organization's IP assets to support organization's innovation and
growth. This also involves the management of any legal rights associated with the IP, which includes obtaining
the legal protection and enforcing it as appropriate.
An innovation created by the innovation process may either provide a positive outcome with freedom to
operate or a negative outcome where infringement is likely on IP which is the property of another organization.
Even the IP relative to this innovation may protect against risks from such other organizations by creating
legal risks for them in return.
5 The intellectual property strategy
5.1 The role of top management
The organization should have an intellectual property strategy. The organization should include IP as a
consistent component of its innovation management strategy and likewise of the organization's business
strategy.
In developing an IP strategy, the following should be considered:
— intellectual property as a guarantee of the organization's exclusive use of its own innovations (“freedom to
operate”);
— intellectual property as a competitive advantage or as a response to exogenous constraints of a market,
or market segment;
— intellectual property as an element of the organization's asset base for attracting investors;
— intellectual property as a decision support tool for structuring partnerships and research programmes for
research bodies, whenever transfer of technology (and if appropriate of intellectual property assets) to
industry is contemplated;
— intellectual property as a contributor to market value (through increase of the assets base).
Top management should define and ensure that the overall organization strategy, including the innovation
management strategy, is applied to:
— areas for strategic development: core business technologies, timelines and milestones in terms of
strategy deployment, etc.;
— research and development business model and policy: internal development, joint development,
acquisition, outsourcing, sale, licensing (in, i.e. subscription to licenses from third parties, or out, i.e.
granting licenses from own IP to third parties), etc.;
— participation in standardization and regulation bodies;
NOTE 1 See Annex D and Annex E for more details.
— management of operating risks relating to the IP of third parties (risks of infringement of known third party
IP, of opposition by previously unknown third party IP, restrictions on freedom to operate, etc.);
— appoint an IP management structure responsible for implementation of the intellectual property strategy,
for management of the portfolio of associated IP rights, and for development of the organization's IP
assets (detection, creation, protection, monetization, etc.);
— definition of missions and tasks for the IP management structure, in accordance with the organization's
policy, consistent with related resources and budgets, and consistent with the recognized strategic value
of intellectual property within the innovation management strategy;
— identification of the framework of responsibilities and empowerment, the definition of functional and
hierarchical lines of reporting, for the IP management structure;
— structure and manage collaborative innovation projects with regards to their IP creations and IPR
assignment components, thus IP management contribute to the success of the collaborative
management (see CEN/TS 16555-5 for information).
NOTE 2 It is the IP management structure's responsibility to propose an efficient intellectual property strategy in line
with the organization's strategy and with its explicit objectives for value creation.
Top management should establish and approve:
— a strategy for the IP management that supports the innovation management strategy;
— an organizational structure and process that secures the integration of the IP management structure into
the deployment of the organization's strategy;
— a set of competences and resources (e.g. human, infrastructure, tools and methods) securing the
availability of all the skills required to execute the process and implement the IP strategy.
IP management responsibilities should be clearly identified, documented and shared with the rest of the
organization, in particular in the framework of their interactions with other functions in the organization.
These responsibilities can be assumed by a single person or a team; the IP management may report to the
top management, be part of the top management team, or even assumed by the top management itself. As an
IP strategy cannot be outsourced, its deployment can be partially delegated to an outside consultant (patent
attorney or IP counsel, for example).
5.2 Interactions with various functions
The IP management should interact with relevant functions within the organization, as a contributor to the
success of their own missions depending on the size of the organization. For example:
— executive committee;
— operational management;
— risk and quality management (in particular legal and technology related risks impacting on the freedom to
operate);
— licensing (if this function is separate from the others): proposal and preparation of licensing programmes,
interactions with IP counsels, development of the portfolios of licensable IP assets, negotiations, etc.;
— R&D: innovations, technical analyses, competitive analyses, counterfeit detection, technology scouting
(monitoring of third-party technologies of interest for the business's development), technical and legal
analyses including freedom-to-operate analyses;
— legal: contractual aspects (confidentiality, purchase, sale, partnership and licensing contracts, etc.),
processing of anti-counterfeiting litigation, assignment of intellectual property ownership in collaborative
R&D programmes, in employment of interns or temporary collaborators for innovative projects, etc.;
— marketing: business plan (margins, market shares, etc.), information on markets, growth factors and
macro trends, counterfeiting detection, choice of brands, development of products and services offerings,
etc.;
— finance-accounting-tax management: budget, license fees paid or received, accounting for and reporting
of intellectual property assets, (example: compliance with US IFRS rules concerning valuation of
intangible assets);
— purchasing: subcontracting of all or part of developments, validation of freedom to operate on purchased
components, technologies or tools;
— strategy: role of IP assets in mergers and acquisitions, diversification or divestitures (withdrawals from
strategic segments, assets portfolios rationalization, etc.).
5.3 Competences and skills requirements
The IP management should have access to the following competencies:
— specialized skills, internal and/or external, for management of intellectual property in all of its aspects
(detection, creation, protection, monetization);
— resources for raising awareness and for training, which addresses all personnel whose duties and
responsibilities likely expose them to the issues of intellectual property: freedom of operation, protection
of knowledge and IP, value creation, monetization of intangible assets.
Top management should explicitly exert “make vs buy” choices in terms of mastering internally the resources
and skills necessary for efficient deployment of the IP strategy, or outsourcing these resources. Top
management should periodically revisit these choices as well as the positioning of the IP management within
the organization, since resources and management structure required for efficient implementation of the IP
strategy can evolve.
The corresponding framework could be a yearly IP specific hiring and training plan, jointly designed by top
management and the human resources function, explicitly meant to meet the requirements and key success
factors of the selected intellectual property strategy.
5.4 Budget and cost control
The organization should execute rolling forecasts and allocate an appropriate budget for the IP management
structure, in compliance with the investment policy and consistent with the financial requirements of the
efficient management of the IP rights portfolio.
The organization should record and monitor expenditures directly and indirectly linked to the IP management
structure and its activities, through financial tools such as dedicated cost accounting. This monitoring should
be run on a periodic basis, detailed by type of expenditure (salaries, official fees, filing and maintenance costs,
taxes, litigation costs, royalties revenues, etc.) as well as by technology or innovation and by type of IP asset
(patent, brand, design or model, domain, database, know-how).
EXAMPLE
— For patents, monitoring may concern each title per country of filing, and should differentiate the costs of filing and
granting of titles from the yearly maintenance costs (annuities), since the latter may be used as adjustment variables
in budgetary arbitrations;
— for licenses taken out by the organization, monitoring may concern licenses for patents, brands, designs and domain
names and identify the specific corresponding profit and loss accounts.
The organization should consider divestiture from specific IP rights in specific circumstances such as budget
constraints, technology strategy or geographic arbitrages (withdrawal from markets or countries), mergers and
acquisitions, etc. The organization should establish a process to select the IP rights to be reserved or retained
in such circumstances as against those to be abandoned or sold, using as guidelines the requirements of its
corporate, technology and marketing strategies. This realignment process between the global budget and the
organization's strategy should not be only part of expenditure control measures but should be also a positive
tool to ensure an adequate return of investment on IP rights investments.
The IP management structure should anticipate extraordinary costs linked to opposable third party IP rights
and restrictions on freedom to operate. In the event of confirmed exposure to such opposable third-party
rights, the IP management should recommend the constitution of financial provisions for the implementation of
suitable corrective action plans, including litigations. Wherever applicable, such financial provisions should
cover any estimate of future compensations that might be paid as a result of litigations, licensing-in, or any
other corrective action prompted by the opposable third party IP rights.
5.5 Communication
The organization should communicate its IP strategy both internally and externally:
a) Internal communication should address:
1) visibility and legitimacy of the IP management structure responsible for implementing the IP strategy
and in particular managing the portfolio of IP rights;
2) visibility, legibility and consistency of the IP strategy and in particular the management of the portfolio
of IP rights.
The goal is to clearly position the IP strategy as a consistent component of the organization's corporate
and technology strategies and to secure its empowerment in its interactions with other functions.
b) External communication should address:
1) information on the technologies and services likely to be made available to third parties;
2) display of the IP rights' protection policy and the strength of the organization's commitment to defend
its freedom to operate or create value from its innovation potential;
3) solicit interest from third parties for participation in joint development projects, capital investments
and other innovation initiatives secured by the existing IP assets and their portfolio of IP rights.
The goals are multiple:
— deter counterfeiting through the assertion of retaliatory measures;
— promote the organization as a valuable asset for investors and innovation partners alike;
— proactively look for opportunities to monetize the IP rights of the organization.
Internal and external communications should include both regular and event-based messages, particularly
when the IP and the portfolio of IP rights undergo significant changes (recognition of employees' inventions
when patents are granted, joint R&D agreements, granting of IP rights in relevant countries, etc.).
6 Implementation of the IP strategy
6.1 Traceability
The organization should develop the tools and resources to ensure the traceability of its inventions' activities,
including records of individual inventor’s contributions and proof of the earliest dates of invention or other IP
creation and their later development.
In the fields of scientific and industrial R&D, it is recommended that the organization establish documented
procedures (see Annex B), supported by any other means to provide evidence of the generation of IP. In the
field of software, it is recommended to use software configuration management and software filing.
The organization should:
— maintain on-going, two-way communication with its innovators and inventors;
— communicate decisions and their justification to innovators and inventors, in order to ensure clarity,
traceability, transparency and continuous development progress;
— recognize and reward the positive impact and contribution to the economic development of the
organization by innovators;
— formalize the identification of inventions by establishing disclosure procedures and maintaining records;
(see Annex B);
— consistently check all its activities for the generation of IP and the need for its protection.
NOTE See Annex A.
6.2 IP decision making
The IP management should make explicit decisions on the IP identified and the actions to:
— determine the nature and category of the IP identified or disclosed;
— identify how the IP aligns with furthering the organization’s strategy;
— identify the potential value and risks related to the IP;
— identify relevant prior art and common general knowledge;
— identify whether the IP infringes or is compromised by third party IP rights;
— undertake due diligence and determine the best course of action;
— protect by formal filing and registration;
— protect by confidentiality and/or secrecy;
— publish to prevent third parties from acquiring corresponding IP rights;
— identify IP that has no value or relevance to the organization;
— identify IP that may have value to a third party and could be sold or licensed.
The organization should seek and take advice from internal and external legal professionals, notably in terms
of registering inventions, designs and trademarks and in meeting the IP rights of employees and remaining in
compliance with national laws.
The organization should ensure early protection of their potential innovations and intellectual property by
maintaining confidentiality and other secure measures, prior to determining the best course of action for the
protection and exploitation of particular IP.
The IP management should be involved in the drafting of all contracts and agreements that involve IP issues,
and in particular those with staff, consultants, subcontractors, suppliers and customers.
Partnership research projects, consortia and open innovation are increasingly common, where it is
recommended for the organization’s IP management, to establish and negotiate its intellectual property
position with the other parties, before the innovation process starts.
NOTE For more details on management of collaboration, see CEN/TS 16555–5.
6.3 Strategic intelligence and risk management
The IP management should contribute to the strategic intelligence of an organization. This is achieved by:
— establishing regular watch over new IP rights or requests for IP rights published in pre-identified areas;
— carrying out analyses of the competitive landscape using patent databases, scientific publications or other
databases, on a given theme, in order to identify players or to identify areas of opportunity for innovation;
— comparing the organization's own portfolio to that of a third party's portfolio in transactional, cooperative,
outsourcing trade-off contexts or relating to other strategic choices.
The IP management should identify possible threats which should be dealt with as part of an organization's
risk management system; identification of risks and management of identified risks should consider:
— detecting new patents potentially overlapping the activity of the organization and by opposing them where
the law permits this or by triggering any appropriate corrective action (licensing, change of technological
direction, etc.);
— recommending to general management, further to critical threat analysis, explain or develop the
appropriate responses to any claims vetted from third parties that is in line with the organization's risk
management guidelines;
— implementing a survey reporting process on infringement by third parties.
To deepen the implementation of strategic intelligence management, it is recommended to follow the
guidelines described in CEN/TS 16555–2.
6.4 IPR portfolio development, management and exploitation
6.4.1 Structuring IPR portfolio
a) Global level:
The organization should decide on how to treat IP on a global level and what is the possible structure for
IP management.
1) management of one or more centralized structures – holding companies, value enhancement units,
intellectual property service companies, etc. – or decentralized structures within the branches or
departments;
2) internal management, partly outsourced management, etc.
The choice of the structure contributes to attaining the predefined objectives (cost management, patent
quality, compliance with lead times, financial and fiscal optimization, etc.).
b) Unit level:
The organization should define a process related to each innovation or new technology in order to
assess:
1) the usefulness of investing in creating its own IP rights or acquiring a license for third party rights;
2) opportunity to grant licenses or transfer IP rights, or any other method of value enhancement;
3) combining both approaches in entering cross-licensing agreement.
6.4.2 Analysis of the potential IPR
a) Analysis of quality of innovation
The organization should consider for each innovation:
1) the type of products and services that would be marketed resulting from the innovation;
2) the strengths and weaknesses of the innovation in terms of technological, economic, commercial and
strategic advantages, and scope for the protection of IP rights;
3) opportunities (licensing, contributions/admissions to norms and standards, etc.) and threats (freedom
to exploit, market maturity etc.).
b) Analysis of legal options
On the basis of the above analysis, the organization should analyse the IP right(s) for optimal value
enhancement. A matrix can then possibly be created per innovation category (e.g. innovations grouped
per product line) which would recommend appropriate protection in accordance with the following points:
1) nature of the IP rights;
2) protection period;
3) geographic coverage.
c) Analysis of financial consequences
The organization should document the following points:
1) cost estimates and schedule;
2) nature of costs, estimation methods;
3) subsequent changes and necessary adaptations to development, manufacturing, marketing and life
cycle periods of the innovation;
4) impact of IP rights on the organization's business planning: market shares, margins, risks,
opportunities, attraction for investors, etc.;
5) analysis of return on investment;
6) identification of decision milestones for the set up of periodical reviews:
i) according to investments for the reservation of IP rights (lifecycle stages of titles: decision to file,
extend, abandon, etc.);
ii) according to technology, product and market lifecycle stages.
NOTE Analysing potential IPR is made prior to creating IPR, whereas IP assessment refers to the IPR already added
to the IPR portfolio. For the IPR assessment, see Annex C.
6.4.3 Intellectual property exploitation
6.4.3.1 General
The organization should decide how to exploit the IP that was created and choose between eligible business
models, both in the direct and indirect modes.
NOTE “Exploitation” in this context deals with profits and losses only, and does not deal with IP ownership status
(which is balance sheet based). It excludes strategies like transferring IP rights to joint-ventures or start up creations that
suppose change of ownership status, as well as monetization that supposes transfer of ownership capability to the
creditors (banks, etc.). These scenarios are dealt with in the following sections.
6.4.3.2 Direct exploitation
Direct exploitation consists of exploiting directly vested interests (patents, copyright, brands, etc.) by diffusing
products and services implementing the protected innovations (marketing of a product implementing a
patented technology, publication of works, marketing of a brand).
Direct exploitation may serve “defensive objectives”: the organization should strive to protect its innovations as
early as possible in order to ensure their freedom of exploitation, and thus avoid that third parties protect them
before the organization does which could eventually block the organization's exploitation of its own
innovations.
Direct exploitation may serve “offensive objectives”: the organization represents its vested interests to prohibit
third parties from using similar products and services by reserving the exclusive IP rights.
6.4.3.3 Indirect exploitation
Indirect exploitation consists in benefiting from vested interests through their potential exploitation by third
parties, such as:
— by granting a license to use IP rights on a clearly identified category of products and market.
This license may be conceded to the third party in exchange for payment (offensive objective) or in exchange
for an IP rights license belonging to the third party and impacting the organization (defensive objective); in this
last case, organizations often exchange IP rights portfolios; this is known as a cross-license agreement
(cross-licensing):
— by emphasis on an important portfolio of vested interests so as to deter third parties from exploiting their
IP rights against the company through fear of reprisal (defensive nature of dissuasion).
6.4.4 Acquisition, sale, concession and licensing (-in and -out) of third parties IP rights
In case an organization is considering changing its IP ownership status, it should increase or decrease its
intellectual property asset perimeter accordingly. Such a strategy means resorting to external resources,
notwithstanding and in addition to efficient exploitation of internal ones (see 6.4.2).
The reasons may be for example: execute a specific IP strategy, strengthening or divesting technology
domains or product/market segments, increasing or divesting R&D or design capability in a specific domain,
execute a specific brand strategy, execute a specific cash-flow strategy, etc.
Achieving change of IP ownership perimeter should be done through one of the following actions:
a) Increase property perimeter:
The organization is creating additional IP ownership, considering acquiring IP rights altogether or licensing IP
rights from other parties (licensing-in). In this case the organization should secure freedom of exploitation for
an existing technology, or reach critical mass in a domain or product/market segment where internal
resources are sub-efficient to secure the success of an internally generated innovation. Depending on the
criticalness of the strategy, the licensing IP rights may need to be exclusive in order to efficiently protect the
domains or product/market segments involved. Such acquisitions require a preliminary due diligence of the
same level as that involved in acquisition of tangible assets.
b) Decrease property perimeter:
The organization is transferring existing IP ownership of IP rights to other entities, like spin-off start-ups, joint
ventures, external third parties (licensing-out), or of downright monetizing existing assets with financial
partners (IP as collateral for loans, IP turned into equity bonds, etc.). In contexts of strategy shifts and portfolio
rationalization, the organization should divest or reallocate intangible assets, which no longer support a viable
strategy or no longer enjoy a competitive advantage. In context of explicit growth objectives, the organization
should leverage the IP as a negotiation tool, seed assets for spinoffs or joint ventures, or invest upfront to
speed up market acceptance and stakeholders’ awareness of a technology. Such IP transfer tactics may
require the intervention of a third party such as IP service firms, IP brokers or investment bankers.
Annex A
(informative)
Authenticated documentation to record IP
It is important that every organization, large or small, involved with scientific or industrial R&D that creates IP,
establishes the discipline and routine to regularly record the results of these activities, which are made at the
time of creation and
...