Legal IT Newswire: Fremont, Calif., February 14, 2017— Lecorpio, the leader in intellectual property (IP) management and analytics software solutions, recently conducted its second annual Patent Program Benchmarking Survey to measure how companies are tracking performance of their patent programs and how they are engaging with and rewarding inventors.
Elisa Cooper, VP of Marketing at Lecorpio, explains, “This year’s study showed that more companies are measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) now – the number rose from 58% last year to 64% this year. In particular, significantly more companies are measuring quality KPIs which rose from 30% to 42%, a 12% increase in a single year. Similar to last year, most companies are providing financial rewards to inventors, primarily for patent filing and issuance, and they are meeting with key stakeholders on a regular basis.”
2017 Patent Program Benchmarking Survey highlights include:
• When asked about the measurement of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), 42% reported that they track quality, which is an increase of 12% over last year’s survey. 63% measure quantity and 10% measure efficiency. According to the survey, 36% of those that responded do not measure KPIs, which is an improvement over last year where nearly 42% stated that they were not tracking KPIs.
• 75% of respondents reported providing financial rewards for patent milestones, most of which are given at the patent filing and issuance stages. Of these respondents who provide financial rewards, 70% do not give monetary awards for the submission of invention disclosures. The remaining 30% award less than $500 per submission of invention disclosures.
• The amounts granted for patent milestones varied greatly, with the majority granting $1000 -$3000 per filing and $500 – $2000 for issuance.
• 79% of respondents reported that they officially recognize their inventors with plaques, 33% provide recognition at all-hands meetings, and 23% provide tiered awards for different inventor levels (e.g. filing 5, 10 and 25 applications per year).
• Only 20% reported providing top inventors with additional assistance and 45% said that they meet weekly with R&D.
• Inside counsel primarily engage with inventors using in-person blue sky sessions (75%), teleconferences (70%) and online submission of ideas (75%). Very few (5%) conduct formal surveys to obtain feedback from inventors.
Survey Respondent Details
Respondents to the survey were primarily IP lawyers at corporate legal departments in the United States. The largest contingent came from the technology industry (63%) followed by energy and utility (10%), with the remainder coming from manufacturing, healthcare, materials, non-profits, and finance.
The survey report is available upon request to [email protected].
About Lecorpio, LLC
Lecorpio, the leader in IP management and analytics software solutions, helps innovative companies quickly turn ideas into assets. The company’s enterprise-class suite of applications spans the entire IP supply chain, including invention disclosure management, patent and trademark management, e-billing, licensing management and general matters management. The Lecorpio solution includes powerful workflow capabilities that easily configure to a company’s business process and includes an IP dashboard with over 160 KPIs.
Primarily marketed to corporate law departments specializing in IP matters, Lecorpio’s adaptable IP management software-as-a-service creates one central repository for IP information. Lecorpio’s powerful solution simplifies data management processes for attorneys and paralegals through the entire IP lifecycle, from invention disclosure to patent management to billing, monetization and litigation. Also, Lecorpio helps clients to control costs by automating processes and increasing efficiency.
Lecorpio is used by 5 of the top 20 most active US patent filers, in addition to other well-known innovators such as Adobe, T-Mobile, Rockwell Automation, NEC, NetApp and Red Hat. For more information about Lecorpio, please visit www.Lecorpio.com.