Identifying and generating inventions for patent filings can be a daunting task, especially for larger companies with multiple divisions and products. However, uncovering new inventions for patent filings doesn’t have to be difficult – with a little bit of organisation and some creative thinking, you can uncover a wealth of potential inventions that are waiting to be patented.

Here are some simple tips for uncovering inventions for patent filings:

1. Organise and Review your patent portfolio

Before you even start looking for new inventions to patent, you need to make sure that you have a good understanding of your current portfolio. This isn’t because you need to find new inventions, but because you need to make sure that you don’t overlook something that you already have. Organising your current portfolio gives you a good foundation on which to build new patents.

Read through your current patents – If you already have a number of patents, take a moment to read through each one. This helps you to understand the types of inventions that your company is currently patenting, and can provide you with some inputs for identifying new inventions.

2. Review your existing and future products

Once you have a good understanding of your current patents, you can begin to look for new inventions that you can patent. The best way to do this is to break your research down into two categories: existing products and future products.

Existing products are products that are already being manufactured or sold by your company. Future products are products that your company is either currently working on or has plans to work on in the near future. There maybe unpatented inventions in your existing products, and your future products can have several inventions you may consider for patent filings. You have to identify and make a list of these inventions in order to analyse and make a decision on patent filings.

3. Attend brainstorming sessions to identify inventions

No matter what type of business you’re in, brainstorming is the simplest way to uncover new ideas for patents. By attending brainstorming sessions, you maybe able to identify inventions that have the potential for patent filings. Also, Brainstorming notes can be a good source for unidentified inventions.

4. Conduct Interviews with Product development teams

By discussing with different product developments teams in your company, you can gain a good understanding of the work they are doing with respect to different products and their features. Information of their work can give you important inputs for possible inventions and Patent filings. Once possible inventions are identified, you can conduct interviews to get more information for analysis and patent filings.

5. Build a Culture of Invention disclosure

You can identify inventions for Patent filings by building an internal culture of disclosing ideas. If inventors provide details their ideas on their own, you can review and analyse them for patent filing opportunities. Building such a culture requires awareness, robust processes, and transparent feedback.

Conclusion

Identifying inventions can seem difficult, but by following simple steps such as reviewing products, interviewing Inventors & Product Development teams, reviewing research, and attending Brainstorming sessions, you can identify and excavate inventions for patent filings. By building a culture of idea disclosure, you can establish a mechanism that provides you with a pipeline of ideas that maybe be considered for patent filings.