Blue Ocean (Patent) Thinking – Generating IP opportunities for new markets

Building a portfolio in the present that has strategic value in the future is a challenge – but one that patent owners must confront head-on in order to secure the future of their businesses.

I recently authored an article in the last March/April 2015 issue of IAM Magazine, entitled “Blue Ocean Thinking”.  I looked at the way many ventures types (Fortune 500, Startups, NPE’s, and VC’s) can hunt for new market opportunities using IP as a strategic pillar, and used the Smart Grid market as a case study on how firms can be successful.

The view is that patent based opportunities exist – either via monetization or by protection of new markets by operating entities,  by the looking at where markets are moving that require older “infrastructural” based technology.  In the case study I outline  Smart Meter markets leaders who have IP that supports the technical infrastructure will be required by new Smart Home markets.

The difference in the “new” markets are staggering: Smart Meters are estimated to be a $22B market by 2020, but Smart Homes and Demand Response will be well over $100B.

At the close of the article I outlined the key strategies of ventures as they pursue the of blue ocean intellectual property, and an Action Plan for companies to consider.

This type of approach is possible for all types of ventures – Fortune 500, Inc 500, investors and PAEs – because they all have access to the same market data and patent information.  The key success factor for all the ventures is building a visionary team that can connect the older technology platforms between patent and new market opportunities and pair them with an operating team that can execute the opportunity. Those that can do this will be the ones to capitalise and monetise the new blue ocean markets.

The article is quite lengthy (but worth the read!), and is available here for download.