Intellectual property management professionals are tasked with protecting, leveraging, and commercializing the great ideas and inventions of their organizations. The ability to monetize and gain competitive advantage from these new ideas relies heavily on the IP team, yet some of the fundamentals tend to get lost.

The first three resources below are basic but important to reinforce your IP management efforts. The fourth exemplifies a best in breed software solution. Whether your organization and associated intellectual property team are big or small, this list below has something for everyone. It’s worth the time to try them out.

USPTO IP Awareness Assessment

This tool was developed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and National Institute of Standards and Technology/Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST/MEP). It’s a valuable resource for IP professionals who wish to assess their awareness of IP and then obtain guidance and training on how to step up your game. With both a “Pre-Assessment” and a “Full Assessment” this resource helps pros that are at various stages of their IP journey.

Google Patent Search

The search giant’s patent search tool allows IP professionals to quickly conduct a keyword search on over seven million patents. A search almost instantly returns pages full of relevant results with a headline, short description, file dates, issue dates, and inventor name, in addition to the link to the patent. Founders, CEOs, inventors, and intellectual property managers alike can utilize this robust patent search tool to research the global IP landscape.

World Intellectual Property Organization

Did you know that the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, is a tremendous resource for IP professionals? With features ranging from IP services, to even workshops and courses, and of course industry reports, WIPO provides professionals with educational services, insight, news, and data, aiming offer further IP education and awareness to even the most seasoned veterans.

Decipher

Intellectual property cannot be managed effectively in spreadsheets. In order to truly leverage IP as a business asset, your intellectual property team needs a robust IP management tool such as Decipher. This system allows professionals to track IP from ideation through to commercialization, focusing on these specific aspects: Invention Disclosure, Portfolio Management, Legal Spend Management, and Patent Cost Estimation.

Intellectual property is a business asset. How you manage it determines how valuable it actually becomes for your organization. Although the first three resources listed above help you increase IP awareness and education, in order to truly leverage IP as an asset, you must implement and use an IP management platform. Whether your intellectual property portfolio is in its infancy stages or already generates significant revenues, an IP management software solution will allow you to optimize your company’s innovation engine. To discover why Decipher is the best IP management solution for you, request a free trial.