Intellectual Asset Literacy: Implementing IP Education Programs

Patent practitioners need to do better in sharing their expertise with senior executives, managers, and other personnel. Business leaders, economists, and the general public are increasingly aware of intellectual assets and their value. However, few people actually possess intellectual asset literacy, let alone a deeper appreciation of the principles, strategies, and challenges surrounding patents and other IP. There is a need for high-quality IP education initiatives within organizations of all sizes.

Most patent attorneys have had call to deliver an Intellectual Property 101 presentation. The presenter distinguishes between patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights; discusses novelty, subject matter, and patent bars; and maybe throws in a bit about patent procedure or international filing. Some patent and licensing cheerleading and cautionary tales about product clearance and litigation are also common ingredients. The presentation is usually delivered to product developers with the hope that it will inspire them to submit more invention disclosures, increase the IP department's visibility, and maybe discourage them from common errors (inadvertent triggering of patent bars, failing to consider the IP provisions of contracts, knowingly infringing a competitor's patent, etc.). Unfortunately, IP 101 is insufficient to convey the skills and awareness necessary for success in an innovation-driven economy.

IP education for non-patent practitioners needs to be deeper, conferring on the recipients some real skills and sophistication that will support their job functions. IP education needs to be broader, recognizing that employees throughout an organization are creators, guardians, and the eyes and ears of the IP management function. IP education needs to reach higher; there is no excuse for a CXO who cannot read a patent or understand the full implications of their corporate IP strategy (or lack thereof).

Is Anybody Listening?

Patent practitioners have a vested interest in improving the IP credentials of those we interact with. Executives, managers, and a variety of other personnel are the consumers, decision makers, and agents of our services ' directly or indirectly. Greater sophistication leads to a number of benefits for both practitioners and clients:

• A better environment for counseling and decision making when knowledge of the terminology and basics can be assumed;
• Independent, proactive issue spotting based on increased awareness;
• Less time spent on remediation and stopgap measures;
• Widespread adoption of active patent management standards and best practices;
• Increased demand for high-end services and specialized service offerings;
• Accelerated development and maturation of the patent management discipline;
• Increased allocation of personal, corporate, and public resources to IP-related issues.

But could the distribution of functional IP knowledge injure the patent industry and undermine the unique value that patent attorneys and other practitioners bring to organizations? Unlikely. Patents continue to be a challenging field with innumerable complexities and constantly shifting legal and business issues. Many of the things that patent attorneys know and do are too specific to be of general use or appeal. There will always be a need for specialists and technicians to counsel on, manage, prosecute, and litigate the intricacies of patents and other IP.

Deeper, Wider, Higher

The best that an attendee at IP 101 is likely to walk away with is some basic terminology and the sense that IP is important, but confusing. A one-shot, 1-hour survey of patents and other IP is insufficient to have a real impact. In most cases, it entirely misses the topics and applications that are most relevant to the audience. An engineer may or may not care to know the length of copyright terms and how they are calculated. Knowing how to conduct a basic patent search or read a set of claims ' those would be skills he or she could use. IP basics may be necessary before moving to deeper topics. But too often, the basics are presented with no follow-up to show people how they can use IP to do their jobs better. There are countless topics that might have real impact: interpreting patent data, gleaning technical content, understanding claims, writing a disclosure, searching, basic strategies for protecting a product, speculative portfolio building, protecting a business process, competitive intelligence, negotiating IP terms, and many others. Walter G. Hanchuk's “How to 'Read' a Patent” in From Ideas to Assets is a great example of what patent practitioners could offer to non-practitioners if we were truly invested.

Most IP education, and patent education in particular, tends to be aimed at the engineers and scientists who are the traditional inventors in most organizations. This is far too narrow an audience. Project managers, team leaders, and other midlevel managers are critical to patent management, even if they lack technical credentials. They influence the allocation of engineer time and resources and may have strategic, budgetary, and champion duties that make them key contributors. Sales, marketing, investor relations, and customer service can be important sources of market-driven innovation, as well as have critical roles in competitive intelligence and the regulation of public information. Deal makers in customer-facing, supply-side, and strategic roles have an obvious part in managing a company's ownership of intellectual assets. Even traditional back-office functions like human resources, operations, and finance are repositories of business-critical and sometimes innovative knowledge and resources that may be protectable or otherwise influence IP management. Practitioners would be wise to think broadly when considering who needs IP education.

The group with the greatest need for a deep understanding of IP is the senior management of any organization. Intellectual assets are incredibly important to modern companies, and corporate executives should take their stewardship of intangibles very seriously. IP is a revenue generator, strategic tool, and company-defining opportunity or risk. New standards on corporate governance and financial accountability, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, compound the importance of IP sophistication in an era when the majority of corporate assets are bound to intangibles. Unfortunately, this understanding is newly found and most executives do not have a strong background in IP, as compared with sales, finance, operations, or even engineering. Business schools are only just starting to respond to the need for increased understanding of intellectual assets, and that does little to benefit the executives who have been out in the business world for many years. Patent practitioners should consider education one of their goals in counseling senior executives and champion executive participation and investment in IP education initiatives.

Sharing the Wealth

Reaching out to every member of a large organization and vying for the attention of senior managers are not easy tasks. Patent practitioners should realistically assess their interests and aptitudes and find the necessary resources for implementing a high-quality education program. If assistance with the program is needed, they can look for help from interested executives, internal communications groups, or outside consultants with experience on similar projects.

First and foremost, a successful education program requires planning. The goals, core messages, and metrics for success should be considered early and often. A detailed outline of the resources necessary for the program should be written. A realistic assessment of resources includes not only development, administrative, and delivery costs, but the time required from each audience and the follow-on support necessary to realize the full value of the education. There will likely be questions, feedback, new issue spotting, and increased demands for the time and attention of IP staff and service providers. Development, delivery, and follow-up schedules should allow for staged release of the program and time to refine the messages and support based on feedback. If possible, messages should be refined with small group audiences in mind, focused on giving people tools that they will genuinely care about. The educational needs of the accounting group will not be the same as those for the product development group or marketing.

Education programs only succeed with management support. A champion among senior management should be identified and brought in on planning as early as is feasible. The program audience should be defined broadly, from support staff to CEO. The influence of a senior executive will be necessary to get the needed resource allocations. Perhaps more importantly, a senior executive is more likely to get the participation and support of other executives. In the end, an IP education program is an all-hands effort and commitment needs to start at the top.

Strong IP education programs require time, energy, and ongoing support. Patent practitioners within organizations and without have a role to play. Together we can raise the standards of IP literacy in business and improve the impact of our profession.

Implementing IP Education Programs

• Find a champion in management; stewardship of intellectual assets is an executive-level priority;
• Consider IP education an all-hands activity; everyone has a role in developing and protecting IP;
• Customize your message to your audience; senior executives, engineers, and secretaries have different expectations, issues, and interests;
• Remember that an audience is unlikely to retain more than three points from any given presentation;
• Use a series of presentations focused on progressively specific topics;
• Do not burden the audience with legal terminology and definitions; use practical generalizations and encourage them to seek expert advice when necessary;
• Use activities that show people how to use IP, rather than just telling them about it;
• Consider including real projects that can be completed between sessions to give hands-on training;
• Provide opportunity for questions and feedback during and after presentations;
• Simplify and refine presentation messages through feedback;
• Provide resources and support for continuing education and use of IP knowledge.

Patent practitioners need to do better in sharing their expertise with senior executives, managers, and other personnel. Business leaders, economists, and the general public are increasingly aware of intellectual assets and their value. However, few people actually possess intellectual asset literacy, let alone a deeper appreciation of the principles, strategies, and challenges surrounding patents and other IP. There is a need for high-quality IP education initiatives within organizations of all sizes.

Most patent attorneys have had call to deliver an Intellectual Property 101 presentation. The presenter distinguishes between patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights; discusses novelty, subject matter, and patent bars; and maybe throws in a bit about patent procedure or international filing. Some patent and licensing cheerleading and cautionary tales about product clearance and litigation are also common ingredients. The presentation is usually delivered to product developers with the hope that it will inspire them to submit more invention disclosures, increase the IP department's visibility, and maybe discourage them from common errors (inadvertent triggering of patent bars, failing to consider the IP provisions of contracts, knowingly infringing a competitor's patent, etc.). Unfortunately, IP 101 is insufficient to convey the skills and awareness necessary for success in an innovation-driven economy.

IP education for non-patent practitioners needs to be deeper, conferring on the recipients some real skills and sophistication that will support their job functions. IP education needs to be broader, recognizing that employees throughout an organization are creators, guardians, and the eyes and ears of the IP management function. IP education needs to reach higher; there is no excuse for a CXO who cannot read a patent or understand the full implications of their corporate IP strategy (or lack thereof).

Is Anybody Listening?

Patent practitioners have a vested interest in improving the IP credentials of those we interact with. Executives, managers, and a variety of other personnel are the consumers, decision makers, and agents of our services ' directly or indirectly. Greater sophistication leads to a number of benefits for both practitioners and clients:

• A better environment for counseling and decision making when knowledge of the terminology and basics can be assumed;
• Independent, proactive issue spotting based on increased awareness;
• Less time spent on remediation and stopgap measures;
• Widespread adoption of active patent management standards and best practices;
• Increased demand for high-end services and specialized service offerings;
• Accelerated development and maturation of the patent management discipline;
• Increased allocation of personal, corporate, and public resources to IP-related issues.

But could the distribution of functional IP knowledge injure the patent industry and undermine the unique value that patent attorneys and other practitioners bring to organizations? Unlikely. Patents continue to be a challenging field with innumerable complexities and constantly shifting legal and business issues. Many of the things that patent attorneys know and do are too specific to be of general use or appeal. There will always be a need for specialists and technicians to counsel on, manage, prosecute, and litigate the intricacies of patents and other IP.

Deeper, Wider, Higher

The best that an attendee at IP 101 is likely to walk away with is some basic terminology and the sense that IP is important, but confusing. A one-shot, 1-hour survey of patents and other IP is insufficient to have a real impact. In most cases, it entirely misses the topics and applications that are most relevant to the audience. An engineer may or may not care to know the length of copyright terms and how they are calculated. Knowing how to conduct a basic patent search or read a set of claims ' those would be skills he or she could use. IP basics may be necessary before moving to deeper topics. But too often, the basics are presented with no follow-up to show people how they can use IP to do their jobs better. There are countless topics that might have real impact: interpreting patent data, gleaning technical content, understanding claims, writing a disclosure, searching, basic strategies for protecting a product, speculative portfolio building, protecting a business process, competitive intelligence, negotiating IP terms, and many others. Walter G. Hanchuk's “How to 'Read' a Patent” in From Ideas to Assets is a great example of what patent practitioners could offer to non-practitioners if we were truly invested.

Most IP education, and patent education in particular, tends to be aimed at the engineers and scientists who are the traditional inventors in most organizations. This is far too narrow an audience. Project managers, team leaders, and other midlevel managers are critical to patent management, even if they lack technical credentials. They influence the allocation of engineer time and resources and may have strategic, budgetary, and champion duties that make them key contributors. Sales, marketing, investor relations, and customer service can be important sources of market-driven innovation, as well as have critical roles in competitive intelligence and the regulation of public information. Deal makers in customer-facing, supply-side, and strategic roles have an obvious part in managing a company's ownership of intellectual assets. Even traditional back-office functions like human resources, operations, and finance are repositories of business-critical and sometimes innovative knowledge and resources that may be protectable or otherwise influence IP management. Practitioners would be wise to think broadly when considering who needs IP education.

The group with the greatest need for a deep understanding of IP is the senior management of any organization. Intellectual assets are incredibly important to modern companies, and corporate executives should take their stewardship of intangibles very seriously. IP is a revenue generator, strategic tool, and company-defining opportunity or risk. New standards on corporate governance and financial accountability, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, compound the importance of IP sophistication in an era when the majority of corporate assets are bound to intangibles. Unfortunately, this understanding is newly found and most executives do not have a strong background in IP, as compared with sales, finance, operations, or even engineering. Business schools are only just starting to respond to the need for increased understanding of intellectual assets, and that does little to benefit the executives who have been out in the business world for many years. Patent practitioners should consider education one of their goals in counseling senior executives and champion executive participation and investment in IP education initiatives.

Sharing the Wealth

Reaching out to every member of a large organization and vying for the attention of senior managers are not easy tasks. Patent practitioners should realistically assess their interests and aptitudes and find the necessary resources for implementing a high-quality education program. If assistance with the program is needed, they can look for help from interested executives, internal communications groups, or outside consultants with experience on similar projects.

First and foremost, a successful education program requires planning. The goals, core messages, and metrics for success should be considered early and often. A detailed outline of the resources necessary for the program should be written. A realistic assessment of resources includes not only development, administrative, and delivery costs, but the time required from each audience and the follow-on support necessary to realize the full value of the education. There will likely be questions, feedback, new issue spotting, and increased demands for the time and attention of IP staff and service providers. Development, delivery, and follow-up schedules should allow for staged release of the program and time to refine the messages and support based on feedback. If possible, messages should be refined with small group audiences in mind, focused on giving people tools that they will genuinely care about. The educational needs of the accounting group will not be the same as those for the product development group or marketing.

Education programs only succeed with management support. A champion among senior management should be identified and brought in on planning as early as is feasible. The program audience should be defined broadly, from support staff to CEO. The influence of a senior executive will be necessary to get the needed resource allocations. Perhaps more importantly, a senior executive is more likely to get the participation and support of other executives. In the end, an IP education program is an all-hands effort and commitment needs to start at the top.

Strong IP education programs require time, energy, and ongoing support. Patent practitioners within organizations and without have a role to play. Together we can raise the standards of IP literacy in business and improve the impact of our profession.

Implementing IP Education Programs

• Find a champion in management; stewardship of intellectual assets is an executive-level priority;
• Consider IP education an all-hands activity; everyone has a role in developing and protecting IP;
• Customize your message to your audience; senior executives, engineers, and secretaries have different expectations, issues, and interests;
• Remember that an audience is unlikely to retain more than three points from any given presentation;
• Use a series of presentations focused on progressively specific topics;
• Do not burden the audience with legal terminology and definitions; use practical generalizations and encourage them to seek expert advice when necessary;
• Use activities that show people how to use IP, rather than just telling them about it;
• Consider including real projects that can be completed between sessions to give hands-on training;
• Provide opportunity for questions and feedback during and after presentations;
• Simplify and refine presentation messages through feedback;
• Provide resources and support for continuing education and use of IP knowledge.