IP is the only business unit where you can think you have something watertight for years, and then someone sinks it.
In sales, the pipeline tells you quickly if you are in trouble. In software, the bug report tells you. In IP, the patent applications get filed and look good, you won’t find out if the patent application is any good for years.
Even the first signal takes years, a patent grant can take at least half a decade. And grant isn’t the signal that matters. The kind of signal that matters is whether your claims are good negotiation leverage or hold up during exit diligence. That may never come. But if it does you want to know that your IP is watertight. With a decade long feedback loop how are you meant to know that!
Instead of flying blind for ten years you can shorten the loop. Sit down with your R&D and commercial teams and ask questions about the portfolio. Would a competitor stump up some cold hard cash to license this from us? If a competitor wanted to launch a copycat which of our patents would trip them up? Which patents in your portfolio are deadweight?
If your believe that your IP is valuable you can shorten the feedback loop yourself. You can be confident that your portfolio is pulling it’s weight, something that your first filing receipt can never tell you.
