What type of consulting work do you typically do?
My specific areas of expertise include competitive patent analysis, project level patent strategy, IP focused product development, and strategic inventing. Detailed prior art analysis and white space identification has also been frequently requested.

What can you do for our organization?
I help clients improve their skills related to invention, innovation, and intellectual property. Usually, this includes an emphasis on technical creativity, information and training, and even process improvements. Specific goals might include increasing the number of inventive ideas, improving your competitive strategy, reducing the effort expended by your attorneys, and increasing the value of the patents you receive.

What is "industrial creativity"?
Nearly everyone agrees that creativity is a good thing; however, it can be a very elusive objective in technical fields. One reason is that engineers and scientists are trained to be logical and methodical. Another reason is that many popular creativity techniques are too "soft" and unstructured for complex technical problems. As such, engineers and scientists are often not very receptive to these unstructured approaches. On the other hand, industrial creativity techniques are those that specifically address the need for logic, structure, and complex objectives.

Why hire you instead of a law firm?
My background and expertise is different than those you will find in a law firm. While I am a registered patent agent, my industrial experience is entirely on the other side of the desk. My emphasis is on working with non-legal people to maximize the business impact of their ideas. For example, my seminars are conducted with a minimum amount of “legalese”. On the other hand, I don't give legal advice, render opinions, or prosecute patent applications. My goal is to increase your effectiveness, not to be legally precise.

What kinds of organizational processes do you recommend?
I can’t give you specific recommendations without spending some time understanding your objectives and getting to know your organization. However, one component I often recommend is educating the inventors and managers about the patent process, competitive art searching, and principles of strategic inventing. More knowledgeable people means a more productive development organization.

What is “Strategic Inventing?”
Strategic inventing is the process of creative invention based on a business need or patent strategy. That is, the inventions flow from the strategy, not the other way around. The typical method is what I call discovery driven inventing – first the invention occurs, then a strategy is developed to protect the invention. The objective of strategic inventing is to maximize the value of the developmental efforts and eventual patents by focusing on strategically important results.

What do you mean by “Patent Strategy”?
Many times projects managers have an unofficial goal of getting at least one patent for their new development. This is generally a good thing. Unfortunately, it can lead to misunderstandings about the value of a patent. For example, it’s not uncommon to hear people say, “we have a patent on that product” even though the patent may only cover the way it’s packaged, or the process used to make it. A good patent strategy should clearly define all areas of potential coverage, and then systematically protect the areas of strategic importance, including offensive and defensive filings.

How is Patent Strategy different than Strategic Inventing?
There are a variety of difference between these two techniques that would reqire a more in depth forum to adequately address. However, the fundamental difference is that strategic inventing incorporates strategy before and during the development of a product, whereas typical patent strategy techniques are applied after the product is defined.

How much do you charge?
As you might expect, each project is evaluated independently. The larger and more flexible the project, the cheaper it becomes on a daily basis. Training and workshops are usually priced differently than consulting time since they are typically a much shorter duration.