more about a technology portfolio

following on from yesterday, and continuing to avoid the "why don't you build a database, as that is what you need" (response...I know, but that doesn't matter) (and further adding, that for those of you still in academia, just becuase you go to industry it doesn't mean the world becomes all peaches and cream, the problems just change.)

So - once you have trapped all of that information on your licenses, now it is time to trap information on your own patents.

• What products use what patents?
• And how much money do those products earn. Patents cost money to maintain and file. Are you earning enough to make it worth keeping them active?
• Is there a strategic reason to keep the patent even if there are no products using it? How much is that strategic move worth (in dollars?)?
  
• If you don't have the patent, can you protect the product some other way? I haven't seen this work yet, but in theory you can have trade secrets or some such. Biology is a hard place for trade secrets, as few scientists will respond to the "trust me" and "it works" points of view. In general, you have to tell them how things work. This kind of destroys the whole "Trade Secret" kind of thing.