The term patent operation has appeared more and more frequently in recent years, and it seems that it has suddenly become popular in the industry.

So what exactly is patent operation? Does every company need patent operation? This article will introduce it from the following three aspects.

1. What is patent operation? The essence of patent operation is to embed the creation, layout, operation and management of patents into the enterprise's industrial chain, value chain and innovation chain, with patent applications and patent rights as the operating objects and market-oriented operations as the means.

During the operation process, it promotes and optimizes the integration of enterprise innovation resources and the optimization of resource allocation structure, thereby maximizing the economic value of the patent market.

In short, it is to convert patents into economic value.

It can be seen that the most important object in patent operations is patents. Without patent applications or patent rights, there is naturally no patent operation.

The patent wars between Apple and Samsung, Google’s acquisition of Motorola, Huawei’s payment of patent license fees to Ericsson, and Xiaomi’s active purchase of U.S. patents in recent years are actually typical patent operation events.

2. Patent operation model The patent application methods involved in patent operation mainly include patent layout, combination, custody, transfer, licensing, financing, stock pricing, construction of patent pool, formation of technical standards, patent litigation, etc.

Several patent operation models are introduced: 1. R&D entity (enterprise model): such as IBM's centralized management operation model and Toshiba's decentralized management operation model.

IBM has an intellectual property management headquarters, with the vice president serving as the director, responsible for handling all intellectual property matters related to the company's business; the intellectual property management headquarters has two major departments: the Patent Department and the Legal Department (independent of the company's legal department);

The Patent Department is divided into five technical areas, each of which is managed by a patent lawyer.

2. Patent pool: a collection platform of essential patents, where multiple patentees providing essential patents come together to license each other or third parties.

3. NPE model: non-production entity enterprises, mainly obtain patents through acquisitions, commissioned research and development, etc., and make profits through patent litigation, licensing, etc.

Such as the offensive NPE company Intellectual Ventures and the defensive NPE company RPX.

4. Government-led model: The government funds the establishment of a patent fund to help companies manage patents, enhance the economic value of patents, and respond to transnational patent litigation.

5. Service platform model: a non-governmental intellectual property operating organization that provides patent transactions and achievement transformation.

For enterprises, appropriate patent operation methods should be selected at different stages of development.

For start-up companies, the main direction of their patent operations should be patent layout and patent applications; when the company enters the product market stage, it needs to combine, transfer, and license patents; when the company grows into a leading or even multinational company, it needs patent portfolio,

Pledge financing and equity investment; when an enterprise develops to the industrial stage, it should actively consider building a patent pool, participating in technical standards, and licensing transfer negotiations.

Huawei has grown into a global patent operator and has many lessons for domestic companies.

The first is that Huawei regards patent assets as the basis for patent operations, and has a business-oriented patent application strategy that focuses on patent quantity and patent quality. The second is that it has a team of experts who understand technology, patents, and finance. The third is that Huawei

There are diversified patent operation methods.

3. Patent value assessment Any patent application method or patent operation model should be based on patent value assessment. Patent value assessment includes the legal value, technical value and economic value of the patent.

Currently, the more popular patent value assessment adopts Patent Value Degree (PVD), including legal value degree (LVD), technical value degree (TVD) and economic value degree (EVD).

Among them, the legal value can be judged from the stability of patent rights, avoidability, dependence, patent infringement determinability, validity period, multi-country applications, and patent licensing status. The technical value can be judged from technological advancement, industry development trends, and applicability.

Scope, supporting technology dependence, technology life cycle, substitutability, and technology maturity can be judged. The economic value can be judged from market application, market size prospects, market share, competition, patent realized profits, policy adaptability, market

Admission is judged.