Purpose oriented patent portfolio management

Abstract

This disclosure comprises a method and system to automatically provide important business information to a user of the system at key decision-making times during the lifetime of a patent with the goal of aligning business and strategies. The system will include an interface into which the client can input information regarding purpose oriented prosecution information on a continual basis and another interface to present the compiled information to the client, or the working attorney, at a later time. This information will automatically be provided to a user based on the detection of a key event in the lifetime of the patent portfolio.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving purpose oriented prosecution information for a patent portfolio, the purpose oriented prosecution information describing a purpose associated with the patent portfolio and providing a basis for a decision made in a lifetime of at least one matter in the patent portfolio;   detecting an occurrence of a key event in the lifetime of the at least one patent in the patent portfolio; and   automatically providing, using one or more processors, purpose oriented information to a decision maker based on the detection of the occurrence of the key event.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: receiving updated purpose oriented prosecution information for the patent portfolio. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing an actionable link to the decision maker, the actionable link being a means to complete an action for the at least one matter based on the purpose oriented prosecution information.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the purpose oriented prosecution information for a patent portfolio is associated with every matter in the patent portfolio. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the purpose oriented prosecution information is associated with a certain family of matters in the patent portfolio. 
     
     
         6 . The method of clam  5 , wherein the certain family of matters is associated with a certain geographic region. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , whereto the basis for a decision made in the lifetime of the at least one matter is to protect a particular product manufactured by the owner of the patent matter. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the basis for a decision made in the lifetime of the at least one matter is to assert the matter offensively against a competitor. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the basis for a decision made in the lifetime of the at least one matter is to broaden the scope of protection provided by a previously filed parent patent application. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the key event in the lifetime of the at least one matter in the patent portfolio is a due date of a maintenance fee. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the decision made in the lifetime of the at least one matter in patent portfolio is the decision to file a patent application. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the decision made in the lifetime of the at least one matter in patent portfolio is to amend a claim in a patent application. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically providing purpose oriented prosecution information is accomplished via a user interface of a patent management system. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically providing purpose oriented prosecution information is accomplished via an email. 
     
     
         15 . A system comprising
 an input module, the input module providing a user an ability to input purpose oriented prosecution information, the purpose oriented prosecution information describing a purpose associated with at least one matter in a patent portfolio;   a purpose oriented prosecution database, the purpose oriented prosecution database to store the purpose oriented prosecution information for the at least one matter in the patent portfolio; and   a display module, the display module to transmit the purpose oriented prosecution information stored on the purpose oriented prosecution database to the user based on detecting a key event in the lifetime of the at least one matter in the patent portfolio.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the input module comprises multiple input fields, the multiple input fields comprising portfolio, sub-portfolio, technology, regional family, family, and matter. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine readable medium having instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;
 receive purpose oriented prosecution information for a patent portfolio, the purpose oriented prosecution information providing a basis for a decision made in a lifetime of at least one matter in the patent portfolio;   detect aft occurrence of a key event in the lifetime of the at least one matter in the patent portfolio; and   automatically provide purpose oriented information to a user based on the detection of the occurrence of the key event in the lifetime of the at least one matter in the patent portfolio.