There are opportune times to “harvest” — meaning, identify and inventory — trade secrets. If a company recognizes and takes advantage of those opportunities, then developing a robust trade secret portfolio should become considerably more manageable. For example, suppose that a company develops a product. Consistent with company policy and practice, the employees who developed […]
Insights
Cleveland’s Patent Power Index
Prepared exclusively for Crain’s Cleveland Business by Ocean Tomo, the Patent Power Index recognizes those companies in Norheast Ohio that are transforming the state’s innovation landscape. The full article and featured companies is available in the article “Stronger Ideas Start Here,” by Chuck Soder. The index, which ranks the top 30 companies in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton […]
Momentum for Trade Secret Legislation on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Product of R&D. Significant component of a balanced IP portfolio. Economic driver. In homage to Jeopardy!®, “What are trade secrets?” Right! “Trade secrets” is also the answer to the following question: what type of IP is currently garnering significant attention from both U.S. and European legislators? More specifically, U.S. and European legislative bodies are proposing […]
Take 5 On Patents: October Report
Today we released the new Take 5: On Patents report featuring an overview of patent issuance activity within the United States Patent & Trademark Office in October including: You can view and download the full October report here. Subscribe to this monthly report by signing up here. Our report is only […]
Another Real World Analogy: Trade Secrets and Works of Art
Intangible assets (namely, trade secrets) often can be more easily understood when analogized to tangible assets (for example, works of art) with which people are familiar. To that end, the theme of Ocean Tomo’s 2013 Trade Secret Management & Monetization Symposium was “Trade Secrets: Valuable, but Vulnerable, IP Assets.” That same general theme — valuable, […]
Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index Enters Eighth Year of Trading
Today the Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index(OTPAT), the only index based on the value of corporate intellectual property, was reconstituted. The Index is a diversified listing of the 300 companies that own the most valuable patent portfolios relative to the book value of the company. The Index provides a meaningful benchmark for the performance of […]
Leveraging Litigation Analytics to Inform IP Strategy
An important part of IP strategic planning is an understanding of the litigation environment in the relevant technology space. When analyzing patent value and business risks related to IP management, it is imperative to consider the entities actively enforcing patents in a technology area, the types of patented technologies that are being enforced, the importance […]
Can Hollywood Teach Trade Secret Owners About Protective Measures? Absolutely!
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported on protective measures that studios and producers take to prevent scripts (and screenplays) from being publicly disclosed. (Ben Fritz, “Hollywood’s Latest Thriller: How to Keep Scripts Secret,” 10/14/13 WSJ, A1, A12.) Those measures provide an exemplary framework for protecting scripts and an exemplary starting point for protecting trade secrets. […]