Here's an interesting toy for those who want to do their own patent valuations, drawn to my attention by David Nelms of Potter Clarkson. Last week the European Patent Office announced IPscore, its new free-to-use patent portfolio management tool, which can be downloaded from the EPO website here (together with 30-minute video and training manual). Right: a good score on IPscore -- will it be music to the patent owner's ears?
You're supposed to register for it here, though, enabling the EPO do do its data capture exercise. According to the EPO:
"You can use IPscore to:
examine your company's patent portfolio
analyse the value of individual patents
align your company's patent strategy with your overall business strategy
make the best use of patents as a business tool
identify opportunities and risks.
The tool uses 40 factors to assess each patent and visualises the input in spider and portfolio diagrams. The results of the evaluation are stored in a database.E-learning site here. There's also a users' forum here
IPscore was originally developed by the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, but was later bought by the EPO.
Training
Accompanying the release of IPscore, we have also posted a short introductory video called "Patent portfolio management with IPscore".
Other training opportunities include an online "virtual classroom" session and a two-day training course at the EPO, which provides a thorough introduction to patent valuation and how to use IPscore. The course includes hands-on exercises to help you get to know how to use the many features".
If you have any interesting experiences arising from the use of IPscore, please let IP Finance know.
