Quick Ways to Assess the Competitive Patent Landscape By Steven W. Lundberg and Edward J. Sandor Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved.  National Practice and Presence 80 Patent Attorneys Deep industry expertise, all technologies Procurement, Opinions, Diligence Assertion, Threat Response Portfolio Analysis, Strategy, and Management A Brief Introduction to SLW Note: This is your content slide. Just right-click on this slide in the slide panel on the left to duplicate.

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Demanding and Patent-Savvy Clients Note: This is your content slide. Just right-click on this slide in the slide panel on the left to duplicate. Boston Scientific, eBay, Cisco, Micron, Intel, Apple, Honeywell, Cray Research, Fairchild Semiconductor, Silicon Graphics, Columbia University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Iowa State University, Cornell, and University of Missouri, among others.

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Recognized Quality and Cost-Effectiveness Note: This is your content slide. Just right-click on this slide in the slide panel on the left to duplicate.

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Recognized Global Expertise Note: This is your content slide. Just right-click on this slide in the slide panel on the left to duplicate.

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Industry-Recognized Innovation and Leadership Note: This is your content slide. Just right-click on this slide in the slide panel on the left to duplicate. Invented at SLW Spun out Sold in 2005 Used worldwide Invented at SLW Spun out Other Projects: ClaimTracker

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. What is a Patent Landscape? It’s the “Big Picture” for a “Target Technology” It’s about patent statistics and patent owners It’s about a broad view of opportunity and risk It’s not about specific patentability or infringement issues

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area Assignee (Patent Owner) Statistics Litigation and Reexamination Data Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area Total Patent Counts For example, “Social Networking” In contrast, “Social Networking” v. “Stents” Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area Filing Trends and Timelines for “Social Networking” Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area Filing Trends and Timelines for “Social Networking” Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area International Filing Distribution for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area International Filing Distribution for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. VCR or “Video Cassette Recorder” Technology versus DVD or “Digital Versatile/Video Disk” Technology Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Patent statistics for a Technology Area Where is the “inventing” taking place? for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee (Patent Owner) Statistics Assignee Types and Distribution Basic Questions Practice? License? Litigate? For example, in the “Social Networking” space, Assignees include: Microsoft, Yahoo!, IBM, Facebook, Google, Friendster, Amazon, etc. In contrast Patent Trolls Universities Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee (Patent Owner) Statistics Assignees by Volume of US Patents for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Volume of US Patents for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Volume of Patents and Revenue for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Volume of Patents, Vision, and Resources for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Date of Activity for "Social Networking" – who has earliest patents – who has most recent patents Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Date of Activity for "Social Networking" – who has earliest priority dates for patents and applications Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Patent Quality for "Social Networking" – High Strength Patents (using regression analysis of litigated patents) Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Assignee Statistics Assignees by Patent Quality for "Social Networking" Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Litigation/Reexamination Histories Number of Patents Litigated Number of Reexaminations Most Litigated Patents Most litigious Assignees Basic Landscaping Methodologies

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. IP Strategy File your own Applications Identify Potential Partners/Acquisition Diligence Freedom-to-operate Invalidity/Non-Infringement After the Landscape?

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Freedom-to-Operate  ClaimBot® FTO Process: Parallel  Traditional FTO Process: Serial Design Change Done No Yes Start Over Map Tech Categories Scope Concepts Design Features Design Change Merely Changes Applicable Concepts Since Concepts Are Mapped To Claims, You’re Almost Done! First concept of first claim

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Freedom-to-Operate ClaimBot software: – Proprietary interface needed to map ClaimBot output: – Interactive Excel spreadsheet Usable/manipulable by anyone – Outside Patent Counsel – Inside Patent Counsel – Engineers – Best Practice: Outside Patent Counsel + Inside Patent Counsel + Engineers Embeds “All Elements Rule” for infringement – If a scope concept in claim is absent from the design, can rule out that claim – If the scope concept appears in many claims, can simultaneously eliminate many claims – Exclusionary tool: patent attorney reviews all claims that have not been ruled out Easily updatable as new patents issue – Chart once, use forever – Perform FTO early and often

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Output of Abstracting Claim Chart View Interactive Spreadsheet Claims Needing Further Review are Automatically Identified (in red) Scope Concepts (minimal client time needed) Potential Relevance (“1,” 2,” or “3” – client provides input about present & future design) Individual Patents (separated by violet and white columns) Independent claims Current Interest Future Interest (?) Not of interest Key

Copyright 2009 Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner. P.A. All Rights Reserved. Interactivity Explained Domain expert reviews scope concepts to determine relevance: Spreadsheet applies “all elements rule” to map scope concepts to independent claims. If a particular claim requires two scope concepts ranked differently: Spreadsheet is fully interactive – Evaluate the scope concepts – Which claims come into play or fall away are Automatically Updated MS Excel spreadsheet can be used internally to re-evaluate impact of design changes without incurring additional attorney expenses. Current Interest Future Interest Not of interest Current InterestNot of interest Current InterestFuture Interest

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