MX: How to develop a strong patent portfolio

作者：Bookoff L I^*; Melwani D N

来源：Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry, 2012, 34(1).

Medical device company executives should understand the importance of a strong patent portfolio as well as ways to obtain information on a competitor';s products and patent publications in order to devise strategies to best use that information. Patent portfolios also generate revenue through licensing fees, infringement litigations, and outright sales of patents. Often a patent portfolio covers more than one medical or nonmedical field outside the patent holder';s market. In such a case, the portfolio can generate a revenue stream through field licensing. A company should review its competitor';s patent claims for ways to avoid the claimed technology. Engineers and patent counsel should hold regular meetings in order to brainstorm ways to design around the claimed technology. Using the information obtained about competitive products, a company should craft patent claims to cover those products.