توسعه استراتژی های حمایت قانونی به منطقه نوآوری های خدمات: نقد و بررسی و تجزیه و تحلیل

In highly industrialized countries, innovation and technologies account for about half of economic growth. Patent management plays a crucial role in managing innovation by providing legal protection, especially when supporting factual protection strategies that enable profits from temporary monopolies. However, the requirements for handling innovations have become tougher due to an increase in complexity, shortened innovation cycles as well as the higher risks and costs of generating innovation. Today, value creation is shifting towards service innovations. However, legal protection strategies still are a novelty in this emerging business field. The paper gives an extensive review and an analysis of the current status quo and its recent history, and outlines how common practices in managing patents can get extended to the service environment.

As a conclusion, for enterprises that strive for sustainability it has become essential to support their factual protection strategies by legal ones, also taking into account the major current changes of where value creation is shifting to and takes place at, i.e. research and development activities on collaborative basis and support by service innovations. With regard to latest practical experience and learning from the literature, the following success factors for managing patents, with a particular emphasis on the service industry sector, can still be amended: 1. Support from top and middle management: While support from the top management and the patent department is vital, much depends on the interactions that middle managers and employees have with third parties. If these parties are dedicated and loyal to the company’s patents, inventions can be protected before secrets reach the general public. 2. Awareness program: A sensitization with regard to the topic of patents is necessary. A well-arranged awareness program, one that reaches as many employees within as many years as possible, can create this awareness. Such measures should be implemented unconditionally over the long term. This is due to the fact that in industries such as the service industry sector with dominantly only a short tradition or ignorant of patents, active interaction must be launched for counteraction. 3. Incentive systems for inventions: The introduction of an incentive system for inventions is a proven aid to help support a patent department’s activities. An important point here is that in order to assess the workforce’s view of inventions, it is necessary to understand their underlying perceptions. Without an effective incentive system, or a proper perspective on inventions, there is a danger that inventions will not be declared or will be done so too late. This can happen even if there is a general understanding at the firm about the importance of patents. 4. Identification of inventions: The identification of knowledge residing in employees’ minds will largely depend on the presence of informal contacts within the organization. Subsidiaries can use integrated processes and mechanisms to support projects, which helps to facilitate their identification. 5. Local investigative and discovery partners: Another important area of knowledge identification comes from interactions with employees, market knowledge, understanding of patent issues, and sensitivity towards innovation and inventions. In organizations where there is no concentrated R&D department and potential inventors are scattered throughout the company; companies rely on decentral middlemen to identify and isolate hot spots within the organization. 6. Legal protection of value positions: Analyze thoroughly service innovations with respect to service components’ leverage in the value chain and with regard to their legal protectability – independently of constraints concerning national differences in patentability. 7. Establishment of defence position: A large and widely diversified patent portfolio is the best defence against intellectual property attacks from third parties. One’s bargaining position can be greatly strengthened and enhanced with such an arsenal. There is, for example, the option to conclude cross-license agreements. 8. Sustainability of intellectual property activities and sufficient budget: The establishment of a patent portfolio is a time-consuming and complicated matter; especially in the service industry sector. Therefore, it is advantageous if the patent department can absorb some of the operating costs, and takes a leadership role in the application and process phases of the patent application process. 9. Use of external expert know-how: The presence of skilled and experienced external patent agents is vital, especially for those organizations that have little experience in dealing with patents.