One year after receiving President Obama's signature, the majority of reforms included in the America Invents Act have now taken effect. Earlier this week, new rules addressing both initial application processing and post-grant review were officially incorporated into U.S. patent law.

The implementation of a first to file system in March 2013 promises to be one of the most significant changes brought about by the America Invents Act. This week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unveiled a new proceeding that will serve as an additional safeguard that ensures true inventors gain and maintain their rightful protection under the new framework.

Although amassing a large and diverse intellectual property portfolio can be a valuable pursuit, companies must realize that risk escalates as assets continue to accrue. As a result, quantifying the potential threats to portfolio value and relevance has become a more pressing component of IP management strategies.

Intellectual property managers are acutely aware of how important it is to recognize and catalog innovative ideas. But while most of the focus remains on adding inventions to their portfolios, it's just as important to account for how new business developments might affect the way those intellectual assets are handled.

In 2005, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement was established as a free trade agreement intended to liberalize economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Negotiations surrounding an expanded version of the framework known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have picked up in recent months, but a swell of new intellectual property concerns are tempering excitement for the proposed legislation.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has proposed a new set of revisions to its trademark fee structure, offering a variety of incentives for applicants who take advantage of digital filing tools.

Twitter has decided to add a new dimension to its intellectual property portfolio with the addition of assets from application testing startup Clutch.io. Although the exact terms of the deal have not been released, officials did reveal that both staff members and proprietary technology will be making their way to Twitter prior to Clutch.io shutting down its services on November 1.

As financial factors have proven to be increasingly uncertain in recent years, companies have been placing renewed emphasis on the potential of their intellectual assets. But while shifting focus is an important first step, having the right people in the room may be more predictive of long-term success.

Although Google seems to be venturing into new corners of the technology market nearly every day, the majority of its early success and value can be traced back to the proprietary computer algorithms at the heart of its flagship search engine. So the fact that the company is now tweaking its systems to lower the search rankings of suspected digital pirates speaks to the reverence the company has for copyright protection and enforcement.

Entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand, with small independent firms and sole inventors consistently among those at the cutting edge of the technology industry. So while many factors may be weighing on the minds of these ambitious professionals as they begin to scale out operations, intellectual property management frameworks certainly deserve their attention.