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The IP Management Space can be categorised into two main areas:
The reason bwiseIP look at the market in these two ways is to gain
a better understanding of our clients and our potential clients.
bwiseIP bring a flexible approach to IP Management which allows
us to apply any of our services in any combination. There is little
correlation between business structure and IP needs, so each business
must be assessed before a suite of products can be applied.
The list below represents market segmentation by client type. bwiseIP
either currently works with or previously has worked with people,
businesses and corporations in each category.
These tend to be highly skilled technical people that have developed
IP.
Ex-CTOs or employees of a technology company or academic looking
for specific assistance on a small number of patents
These clients are usually wealthy and smart enough to realise the
benefits of using a consultant for part or all of their IP Management
requirements
Individuals may look for assistance with IP evaluation before sourcing
funds to establish a company to progress the IP towards commercialisation
A start up company is distinguished from other clients by its program
to "burn cash" at a predetermined rate in order to reach
an end goal.
IP management for start-ups has to be extremely well planned and
budgeted
bwiseIP provides professional and admin staff to meet the clients
IP Management requirements.
- This allows the client to receive IP Administration at a very
cost effective rate (as opposed to hiring an IP manager) thus
allowing for more work to be spent on higher value IP functions
(identify, document, evaluate, protect the IP)
bwiseIP's flexible nature as compared to a full time employee
- Start up companies are typically willing to pay more for relationship
that they can adjust according to funding levels and changes in
direction
- Start-up companies reduce their reliance on traditional human
resources by contracting as much as possible in terms of manufacturing
and administration
A start-up company is typically a small, dynamic entity with a
high staff turnover
- This means that the IP Management conducted by bwiseIP may extend
into other areas such as the management of agreements: license,
distributor, OEM, reseller, employment, contractor, contracts,
non disclosure, management of share registry etc.
- This could extent further into funding and identifying potential
investors
- In this case the bwiseIP person acts as an experienced interface
between the client and external parties
- Smaller Technology companies
A smaller technology is distinguished mainly by its balance sheet.
It will usually not have enough cash at hand to embark on a comprehensive
IP program. It may have a small established IP portfolio which it
is trying to enhance or consolidate.
The bwiseIP approach to these companies will be to offer:
- A lower fee structure per period
- Perhaps even a retainer
- A reduced level of service but spread out over greater time
- Larger Corporations with technology focus
A larger technology corporation with established IP is distinguished
mainly by its balance sheet. It usually has enough cash at hand
to embark on a more comprehensive IP program. It may have a small
or large established IP portfolio.
The bwiseIP approach to this type of client will depend very much
on its requirements. In addition to approaches already mentioned
above, this larger client may desire IP Management and IP Auditing
from a corporate governance perspective. In carrying out work for
these type of clients bwiseIP may be helped (or hindered) by an
incumbent IP Management team.
This type of client may provide bwiseIP the opportunity to benchmark
its products and services against those already provided in-house
and thus identify areas of improvement or market advantage.
The obvious criteria that usually separate this type of client
from the rest are:
The IP source is academic staff, students or visitors to the institution
The IP may be encumbered by overlapping research agreements with
outside entities
The IP is managed by a central business development office of the
institution
- For example: NSi at UNSW, BLO at Sydney Uni, UniQuest at UQ,
ANUTECH at ANU, CSIRO BD&C
- This business development office is entrusted with the protection
of the IP and first steps of commercialisation
There is an enormous range in competency level exhibited by the
business development function in these institutions.
The research institutions type clients include:
University and Colleges
- Characterised by the teaching of students
CSIRO, DSTO, AIMS etc
- May be characterised by government funding without have to teach,
although most have students
- Co-Operative Research Centres
A Co-Operative Research Centres (CRC) is distinguished by its pooling
of typically university and industry partners under a co-operative
framework. The diverse funding of CRCs (government and partners)
can lead to unworkable relationships and agreements affecting the
IP. As mentioned in the "Howard Report" the success of
CRCs has been a hit and miss affair.
bwiseIP can use its experience to simplify the IP Management aspect
for CRCs. bwiseIP has had extensive experience with the Australian
Photonics CRC. This CRC in particular has seen many variations of
success and failure of its IP (which is held in trust) in a market
that has changed dramatically over the last 15 years.
Various government and semi-government organisations, for example
the Australian Institute of Commercialisation (AIC), have tried
to compile "starter kits" for CRCs. There are also a large
number of business consultants who feed off CRCs in particular.
None offer specialised IP Management services.
- Business Development Organisations
Many Business Development Organisation (such as EY, BizNet, Australian
Technology Showcase, AIC etc) have clientele that require IP management
as part of the consulting job being performed.
Most state governments now have a "commercialisation initiative".
In addition there are incubators and technology parks.
The type of IP management work to be performed will be driven by
the client's needs in the context of the type of client.
The first step is to identify the bwiseIP IP Management product
that meets the clients needs. This required an in-depth understanding
of how the client/organisation will be effected by the implementation
of the product. In most cases, to be effective, bwiseIP need to
have access to researchers, CTO's, legal staff and vast amounts
of information. Different client types are able to adjust to these
requirements better than others.
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