Innovation -- properly managed -- is essential to creating and keeping differentiated offerings in today's  competitive marketplace.

Patents are often seen by business leaders as an arcane branch of the law that generally costs a lot of money.  They are not usually treated as an integral part of corporate strategy.

That should change.

The factors that used to provide the dominant sources of competitive advantage in business – efficiency, productivity, scale – are often best provided by firms overseas.  The impact of the shift of traditional US industrial mainstays offshore is profound.

Yet change brings opportunity for a new source of competitive advantage:  innovation.  Corporations are increasing turning to ideas as the premier source of differentiated products and services.

A patent, simply stated, grants to you the exclusive right to keep others from using an invention for a period of 20 years from the date you file the patent application.  A patent may be enforced if others infringe on it, or it may be licensed or sold.  It is an asset, with significant value.

The key step in this economy – where sustainable competitive advantage is gained or lost – is in the way you manage and protect ideas.  Your innovation must be protected in order to be valuable – in order to preserve its scarcity and uniqueness.  Without protection, assets can be copied.  And copies destroy your advantage.

Any decision on whether to proceed with filing a patent application on an invention should be made based on strategic company objectives, such as increasing shareholder value or protecting a key market position.  C-level business leaders should be controlling the patent process and assuring that it is aligned with the overall business goals.

Neopatents can help you patent smart™.