|
|
 |
 |
|
Strategic & Tactical, Delphion Means Success for this Company |
| |
A Delphion Customer Case Study |
Summary
Mobile-Mind, a developer of software and applications for smart cards and wireless and mobile devices, uses patent information gathered from Delphion to aid in making key business decisions through nearly its entire product development cycle. Delphion enables Mobile-Mind to gather intelligence on market trends, protect itself from building another company's patented technology into its applications, and uncover opportunities for patenting its own work and building an IP portfolio.
Founded in 1999, Mobile-Mind, based in Watertown, Massachusetts, has 15 employees and is recognized as a leading innovator in smart card and wireless software design, development, testing, and related technical services for corporate and public sector clients in North America, Asia/Pacific and Europe.
Challenge
The wireless software and applications sector moves fast. Mobile-Mind's success often hinges on speedy development and rapid deployment. Given this competitive business environment, it is imperative that Mobile-Mind utilize all available information resources to stay educated on the most recent and sophisticated advancements in the smart card and wireless technology sectors.
Determining How Not to Do It
Because Mobile-Mind provides its customers with original products and intellectual property, the company must constantly stay educated on existing patents. Before building any new systems or applications for customers, Mobile-Mind's development team uses Delphion to determine existing technologies that are already patented, or in the patenting process, so that the team doesn't waste time and resources innovating and building applications with another company's patented technology.
Mobile-Mind's Chief Technology Officer, Scott Guthery, says that he and his team also turn to Delphion when stumped on a particularly thorny aspect of the development process. "It allows us to see not only how other people have approached a problem, but also helps us realize that we need to find a different way to think about a solution," says Guthery.
A Team Effort
Mobile-Mind actively encourages its employees to use Delphion to find "holes" in the patent market and develop products in those gaps. Through its patent incentive program, the company gives employees financial rewards for new patents they apply for and receive. Incentives are awarded to employees at various stages of the patent approval process, encouraging employees to maintain an active interest and role throughout the patent application lifecycle, which can sometimes take years.
The company continues to build its own patent portfolio, averaging a 30% annual growth rate in the past 3 years. Mobile-Mind's management believes its growing IP portfolio is an important component of overall corporate value.
Staying Ahead of Its Customers
Guthery, Mobile-Mind's CTO, spends 10-20 hours a week reading patents and patent applications on Delphion in order to stay abreast of both emerging and existing trends in the mobile technology sector. Patent applications are often the first written record of a new product or technology. By examining the most recent patent applications using Delphion, Mobile-Mind is able to monitor advancements and evolutions in the industry and gather ideas for developing similar or related software not under patent protection.
Delphion enables Guthery to alert Mobile-Mind's clients of new patent applications relevant to their business, technology or that of their competitors. Not only do Mobile-Mind's clients appreciate being kept informed, but additionally, these conversations often lead to new project assignments for Mobile-Mind.
From his extensive use of Delphion, including reading new patent publications generated from saved searches and email alerts, the CTO recently noticed a growing number of patent applications surrounding Digital Rights Management. After consulting other sources he was able to approach several customers with proposals for new projects.
Online Information Warehouse & Saved Searches
Mobile-Mind employees utilize other advanced features of Delphion, including the ability to save and share work files which can be classified into specific knowledge folders. When asked about a certain area, employees can quickly access the shared folders and saved information rather than spending time performing new searches and re-gathering patent data.
Mobile-Mind also takes advantage of Delphion email alerts. This feature allows users to have information sent directly to their email account when a specified company or technology has any new patent activity.
Conclusion
"It's a tactical and strategic tool," says Guthery, Mobile-Mind's CTO. "It's tactical because it helps us steer clear of patented solutions, and it's strategic because it allows us to see macro movements in various industries as well as opportunities for applying for our own patents."
[back to top]
|
|
|
