Mapping what you own
A useful review lines up each patent family with the products, features, and markets it covers, and notes where the claims would read on competitors' products. It also confirms that ownership is clean, with inventor assignments recorded and any security interests or licenses identified. Pending applications deserve attention because their claims can still be shaped, including through continuation applications filed while a parent application is pending. Foreign coverage often turns out patchier than people assume. Grouping continuations, divisionals, and foreign counterparts by family lets the company make one decision for related filings instead of several inconsistent ones. The result should be a working document the business uses rather than a report that sits on a shelf.
Costs and pruning
A portfolio costs money every year, through maintenance fees in the US, annuities in other countries, and prosecution of pending cases. Patents covering discontinued products or markets you never entered can be candidates for letting go, licensing, or sale. Gaps matter as much as surplus: a product line with no protection may need new filings while there is still something new to claim. Gather the docket, the assignment records, product roadmaps, and any licenses or settlement agreements that involve the patents.
Putting the portfolio to work
A portfolio can support licensing revenue, provide leverage for cross-licensing when a competitor asserts its own patents, and add value in financing or acquisition diligence. Investors and buyers tend to ask the same questions a review answers, so doing it ahead of a deal saves time. A portfolio also needs a clear owner inside the company, someone who decides on new filings and on what is allowed to lapse. Asserting a patent carries risk to the patent itself, since a challenged patent can be narrowed or invalidated. To start a portfolio review, we look at your goals for the portfolio and where its value, and its weak spots, are most likely to sit.
