TITLE:
On the Value of Patents in Lean IP Management
AUTHORS:
Oliver Baldus, Pierre Dübon, Michael Barth
KEYWORDS:
IP Management, Lean IP Management, Monetary Value of Patents, Assessing Inventions, Saving Costs
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.8 No.5,
May
9,
2018
ABSTRACT: This
article highlights under which unique conditions value can be assigned to
patents by the concept of Lean IP Management. In general, a patent can be regarded
as a positive asset when it covers a product having market potential and it can
be enforced as a prohibition right effectively. In particular, there exist
three core criteria for monetary evaluating patents. The first and most basic
criterion relates to the fact that only those patents protecting subject-matter
that has market potential can be considered as positive assets. The second and
the third criteria stipulate that even if the first criterion is fulfilled, the
patent has to be enforceable in reality in order to be seen as a positive
asset. In summary waste avoidance not only in general business operations but
also in handling of IP rights is the core measure and most efficient tool for
sustained growth of the enterprise. By consequently sorting out negative assets
by Lean IP Management, the
overall value of the patent portfolio is increased and managing of remaining IP
rights can be conducted more efficiently.