System and Method for Enabling Integrated Channels in an IP Marketplace

Abstract

A comprehensive platform for merchandising intellectual property (IP) and conducting IP transactions is disclosed. A standardized data collection method enables IP assets to be characterized, rated and valuated in a consistent manner. Project management, workflow and data security functionality enable consistent, efficient and secure interactions between the IP Marketplace participants throughout the IP transaction process. Business rules, workflows, valuation models and rating methods may be user defined or based upon marketplace, industry or technology standards.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, by an IP marketplace computer-based system, IP documentation for an IP asset, wherein at least a portion of the IP documentation includes standardized data;   presenting, by the computer-based system, a set of questions about the IP asset based upon a standard in an industry and a company profile stored by the computer-based system;   assigning, by the computer-based system, a default value to a data field not required by the company profile;   validating, by the computer-based system, the IP documentation;   receiving, by the computer-based system, an IP owner approval of the IP documentation;   determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP owner approval, that the IP asset should be available at a public IP marketplace;   determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP documentation, a portion of the IP asset data to be made publicly available;   updating, by the computer-based system, a permissions indicator associated with the portion of the IP asset data such that the portion of the IP asset data is available to users of the public IP marketplace;   polling, by the computer-based system, participants of the public IP marketplace to determine a reputation of at least one of an owner or an inventor of the IP asset;   rating, by the computer-based system, the IP asset based on the reputation;   creating, by the computer-based system, a marketing document including the rating;   receiving, by the computer-based system, a request to license the IP asset from a buyer;   transmitting, by the computer-based system, an invoice to the buyer for a royalty payment; and   providing, by the computer-based system, loyalty points to the buyer in response to receiving the royalty payment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting, by the computer-based system, a first question in a template based at least in part upon an industry classification, wherein the template includes fields which request standardized data for characterizing intellectual property (IP) assets;   receiving, by the computer-based system, a first response to the first question, wherein the first response is part of the standardized data;   determining, by the computer-based system, a second question based at least in part upon the industry classification and a business rule;   presenting, by the computer-based system, the second question in the template; and   receiving, by the computer-based system, a second response to the second question, wherein the second response is part of the standardized data.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein presenting the first question in the template comprises providing a plurality of questions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein presenting the first question in the template results in receiving a plurality of responses. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second question in the template is based at least partially upon a business rule of an organization associated with the IP owner. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the template is based upon an IP asset type to be documented. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the IP asset type comprises at least one of a patent, a trademark, a trade dress, a copyright, trade secret or know-how. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the template includes a plurality of questions based upon a plurality of characteristics associated with an IP asset database. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the validating comprises validating data submitted in the IP documentation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising parsing, by the computer-based system, the IP documentation into IP asset data elements. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein receiving the IP owner approval is based upon an IP owner approval of the IP asset data elements. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising at least one of decrypting, by the computer-based system, the IP documentation or encrypting, by the computer-based system, the IP asset data elements. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the computer-based system, an approval request to the IP owner. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving the IP owner approval comprises enabling an approval workflow based upon an IP owner process. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the IP owner process is defined during a registration process. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP documentation, an IP asset rating of the IP asset. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP documentation, an IP asset valuation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer-based system, an inquiry from the buyer, wherein the inquiry comprises requested IP asset attributes;   determining, by the computer-based system, a match between the IP asset and the requested IP asset attributes; and   identifying, by the computer-based system, the IP asset to the buyer.   
     
     
         19 . A system comprising:
 an IP marketplace processor;   a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor,   the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, IP documentation for an IP asset, wherein at least a portion of the IP documentation includes the standardized data; 
 presenting, by the processor, a set of questions about the IP asset based upon a standard in an industry and a company profile stored by the computer-based system; 
 assigning, by the processor, a default value to a data field not required by the company profile; 
 validating, by the processor, the IP documentation; 
 receiving, by the processor, an IP owner approval of the IP documentation; 
 determining, by the processor and based upon the IP owner approval, that the IP asset should be available at a public IP marketplace; 
 determining, by the processor and based upon the IP documentation, a portion of the IP asset data to be made publicly available; 
 updating, by the processor, a permissions indicator associated with the portion of the IP asset data such that the portion of the IP asset data is available to users of the public IP marketplace; 
 polling, by the processor, participants of the public IP marketplace to determine a reputation of at least one of an owner or an inventor of the IP asset; 
 rating, by the processor, the IP asset based on the reputation; 
 creating, by the processor, a marketing document including the rating; 
 receiving, by the processor, a request to license the IP asset from a buyer; 
 transmitting, by the processor, an invoice to the buyer for a royalty payment; and 
 providing, by the processor, loyalty points to the buyer in response to receiving the royalty payment. 
   
     
     
         20 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based intellectual property (IP) marketplace system, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by the computer-based system, IP documentation for an IP asset, wherein at least a portion of the IP documentation includes the standardized data;   presenting, by the computer-based system, a set of questions about the IP asset based upon a standard in an industry and a company profile stored by the computer-based system;   assigning, by the computer-based system, a default value to a data field not required by the company profile;   validating, by the computer-based system, the IP documentation;   receiving, by the computer-based system, an IP owner approval of the IP documentation;   determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP owner approval, that the IP asset should be available at a public IP marketplace;   determining, by the computer-based system and based upon the IP documentation, a portion of the IP asset data to be made publicly available;   updating, by the computer-based system, a permissions indicator associated with the portion of the IP asset data such that the portion of the IP asset data is available to users of the public IP marketplace;   polling, by the computer-based system, participants of the public IP marketplace to determine a reputation of at least one of an owner or an inventor of the IP asset;   rating, by the computer-based system, the IP asset based on the reputation;   creating, by the computer-based system, a marketing document including the rating;   receiving, by the computer-based system, a request to license the IP asset from a buyer;   transmitting, by the computer-based system, an invoice to the buyer for a royalty payment; and   providing, by the computer-based system, loyalty points to the buyer in response to receiving the royalty payment.