Patent Marketing — Making the Most of Patent Filings

Patent Marketing — Making the Most of Patent Filings —

October 4, 2025
Aki Ryuka
Japan Patent Attorney | Attorney-at-Law, California
RYUKA & PARTNERS

Since patent filing is an investment for the future, countries and inventions to protect patents should be selected in accordance with the visualized return (exit) of the investment.

Common Issues

Selection of Countries

Applicants often say, “Our company does not intend to actively enforce patents, but we want to maintain a balanced patent position against competitors to avoid being sued.”

They then compare the number of patent applications and the business scale with those of competitors and conclude, “Therefore, our target should be X applications per year.” They also determine filing targets by country according to the scale of their own sales and manufacturing.

However, “patents to avoid being sued” must function as counterattacks when litigation arises. For example, if the company holds a strong market share in Asia but a competitor dominates the U.S. market, obtaining patents in Asia will not be an effective counterattack. The counter-attack ammunition must be placed in the United States.

Inventions to Be Filed (Claim Drafting)

In a specification, applicants typically describe the embodiments they intend to implement and draft claims that cover those embodiments. Patent evaluation also often places emphasis on whether the invention is used by the applicant.

Indeed, when licensing is intended, it is important that claims cover the applicant’s own products. However, for maintaining balanced patent strength, whether the claims cover own products merely serves as a reference that “competitors might want to use it.” A patent that is easy to design around cannot be highly valued for maintaining balance.

Patent Marketing: Bridging Management and IP

These issues can be avoided by clearly defining the purpose of patents and filing them in accordance with each intended purpose.

Before developing a product, companies research the market—market size, growth rate, competitor strengths, pricing—and then identify a position with competitive advantage. Patents require the same process. A target “patent position” should be defined, and applications must be filed based on how patents will support that position.

To achieve this, we suggest Patent Marketing, which maps patent objectives into four quadrants based on:

• the horizontal axis: future business profit balance between the applicant and competitors
• the vertical axis: future patent strength balance between the applicant and competitors

Figure 1: Patent Filing Objectives Defined by Patent Marketing
A four-quadrant matrix considering both profit balance and patent strength balance, used to map filing purposes.

Filing Objectives by Quadrant

Active Patent Enforcement

Upper-right quadrant (high profit, high patent strength):
Build a portfolio aimed at excluding competitors. File first in your own markets. If competitor production sites can be identified, file also in those countries.

Upper-left quadrant (competitor profit higher, your patent strength high):
Licensing opportunities arise. File in competitor markets where they will “want” the patents.

Patents here must cover competitor products. However, in OEM or licensing scenarios, competitor products may effectively equal your own—so covering your own products is sufficient.

Defense Against Patent Enforcement

Lower-left quadrant (competitor profit high, your patent strength low):
Direct enforcement is difficult, but defensive cross-licensing is possible. File in competitor markets and production sites. Patents must cover competitor products.

Lower-right quadrant (your profit high, competitor patent strength high):
Litigation risk is high. For NPEs, your patents cannot be asserted, so filings that strengthen your “contribution ratio” argument are key. File patents covering your own products in your own markets.

Summary of Filing Objectives

• Right-side quadrants → file in your markets first.
• Left-side quadrants → file in competitor markets first.
• Upper quadrants → focus on active enforcement.
• Lower quadrants → focus on defense.

Claim coverage:
Upper-right & lower-left → competitor products
Upper-left & lower-right → your own products

How to Conduct Interviews with Inventors

Clarifying Patent Objectives

Since claims depend on purpose, inventor interviews must begin by discussing objectives based on Patent Marketing.

For exclusion or cross-licensing → discuss competitor workarounds.
For monetization or damage reduction → discuss how your company implements the invention.

Filings for Financing and Shareholder Communications

Even when filings are for financing or demonstrating competence, explanations rooted in Patent Marketing strengthen the message.

Patent Strength

Required litigation strength differs depending on purpose.

For excluding competitors → airtight preparation is needed.
For friendly licensing → cost efficiency may take priority.

Clarifying your patent position enables proper decisions on where to file, what to file, and how detailed each application must be.

Anticipating Future Changes

Changing Filing Objectives

Patent strategy should be based on future—not current—patent positions. If positions will change, create 5-year and 10-year projections.

Figure 2: Visualizing Changes in Patent Filing Objectives Using Patent Marketing
Objectives vary by competitor and product. Visualizing changes helps shape long-term IP strategy.

Patent Sales

When patents are sold, the “your company” in the matrix changes, altering patent positions and value. Pricing must be evaluated from the buyer’s perspective.

Conclusion

Patent Marketing relies on assumptions, so exact numeric positions aren’t essential. But without at least an intuitive sense of these positions, one cannot rationally decide what inventions to file or how to draft claims.

Since patent filing is an investment, envisioning an exit is crucial. Patent Marketing provides a common language shared across R&D, IP teams, executives, and investors, helping companies leverage their technologies and accelerate business growth.