Intellectual property management method and apparatus

US7630915B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• John A. Bracchitta · South Burlington, US
• Patricia McGuiness Marmillion · Colchester, US
• Bernadette Ann Pierson · South Hero, US
• Henry Charles Rickers · Poughkeepsie, US
• Howard J. Walter, Jr. · Shelburne, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 14, 2006
• Grant date: Dec 8, 2009
• Expiry date: Nov 6, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S707/99933
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An intellectual property management facility for proactively creating, developing and managing an intellectual property portfolio includes: determining available resource capacity for an intellectual property activity in a tracking system; assigning technical attributes to the activity in the tracking system; apportioning resource capacity for the activity by technical attribute based on the value assigned to each of the technical attributes and based on available resource capacity; obtaining actual resource usage by technical attribute from the tracking system; and managing resource allocation for the intellectual property activity by determining the difference between the actual resource usage and the resource allocation by technical attribute.