Abstract:
A system and method is provided that allows a company to maintain a dynamic network database of intellectual capital. Entries in the database are stored on individual computers. Searches are conducted by transmitting a search request to each computer on the network. In addition, companies can post intellectual capital for other companies to view and to search. The system also facilitates the development of intellectual capital when the members of the development team are not in the same location by providing methods of communication, scheduling, sharing files and searching for additional team members.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to the management of intellectual capital and more particularly to a system and method for a company to internally keep track of intellectual capital and to allow other companies to access information about intellectual capital available for licensing or purchase.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    A corporation&#39;s ability to capitalize on its assets both internally and externally directly affects profits. Companies face a variety of challenges in maximizing the uses of their portfolios. First, many companies have difficulty keeping their employees informed about intellectual capital. Developers, managers, executives and attorneys are often on disparate internal networks, which creates problems for employees to know what the company&#39;s intellectual capital consists of Second, there are similarly many people within these companies who could use its intellectual capital, but are not aware of it. As a result, these companies are not making full use of their intellectual capital portfolios.  
           [0003]    Third, companies do not have a simple and convenient way to license patents. Companies with extensive patent portfolios will often grant blanket licenses to their portfolios to simplify the transaction. Fourth, smaller companies don&#39;t have an easy time soliciting licensees.  
           [0004]    Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus that provides individuals and companies with a way to keep other employees informed about the company&#39;s intellectual capital and provides individuals with access to said information. There is also a need in the art for a method and apparatus that provides individuals and companies with a way to efficiently and effectively develop and market intellectual capital.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Briefly, the present invention enables a company to maintain a dynamic network database of intellectual capital. The system stores each entry in a database on a computer that it is entered on. Upon a search request the system transmits keywords to every computer on the network. The system transmits back any matching entries to the querying computer. Each user has an assigned access level and can only view entries at or below his or her assigned level. Entries also have two access levels—one for viewing an abstract and another for viewing the whole entry.  
           [0006]    Another aspect of the present invention involves providing companies with a method of posting intellectual capital for other companies to view and to search. Each company can post an entry, or an abstract of an entry, to a listing computer. Each company can then search the listing computer for entries that match search criteria. When a matching entry is selected, either the full entry is displayed or contact information for the appropriate person to contact to obtain more information is displayed.  
           [0007]    In addition, the present invention provides a system and method for facilitating the development of intellectual capital when the members of the development team are not in the same location. Methods of communication, scheduling, sharing files and searching for additional team members are described. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The above and other features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the invention, which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system for performing a method of documenting, tracking and developing intellectual property in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a PC used in an exemplary embodiment of the system shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is an organizational chart for the main page of the system shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a screenshot of the main page of shown in FIG. 3 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is an organizational chart for a new innovations page of the system and accessible through the main page as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is an organizational chart of an innovations page of the system and accessible through the main page as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is a screenshot of a WorkTracker feature of the system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an exemplary innovation abstract which can be stored and accessed in the system and according to the method of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is a screenshot of an exemplary strategy abstract which can be stored and accessed in the system and according to the method of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is a screenshot of an exemplary financial abstract which can be stored and accessed in the system and according to the method of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11 is a screenshot of an exemplary legal abstract which can be stored and accessed in the system and according to the method of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 12 is an organizational chart of an innovation query page accessible through the main page of the system as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 13 is a screenshot of an exemplary innovation query page shown in FIG. 12 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a query for locating information regarding innovations matching specified search criteria and performed using the system in accordance with the method of the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 15 is a screenshot of an exemplary innovation query results page obtained upon execution of an innovation query in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 16 is an organizational chart of a PeerNet feature accessible through the main page of the system as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 17 is a screenshot of an exemplary “find peers” function of the PeerNet feature shown in FIG. 16 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 18 is a screenshot of an exemplary “ask peers” function of the PeerNet feature shown in FIG. 16 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 19 is an organizational chart of a shared workspace accessible through the main page of the system as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 20 is a screenshot of an exemplary documents page of the shared workspace shown in FIG. 19 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 21 is a screenshot of an exemplary task list of the shared workspace shown in FIG. 19 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 22 is a screenshot of a second exemplary task list of the shared workspace in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 23 is a screenshot of a ThoughtBox feature of the system as shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0032]    In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It is to be understood that structural changes may be made and equivalent structures substituted for those shown without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0033]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a user interface links desktop personal computers (PC&#39;s)  11 ,  14 ,  31 , and  34  in a dynamic network  10 . It is anticipated that each PC can comprise standard personal computer hardware. Any form of known computer can be substituted, however, including laptop computers, servers, PDA&#39;s or other logic devices capable of data entry and storage. The network  10  allows access to a database of information where the various entries in the database are respectively stored on the PC&#39;s  11 ,  14 ,  31 , or  34  of the user who entered the information. Each PC, shown in more detail in FIG. 2 as PC  200 , requires a hard drive  210  to store data, a network connector  212  to transmit and receive data from other PCs, a display  214  for the user to view the user interface on and an input device  216  for the user to enter data and manipulate information. The network connector  212  can be an ethernet card connected to the network or a modem that connects over a phone line, cable line, DSL line or via satellite. The input device  216  can be a keyboard and/or mouse.  
         [0034]    There are various levels of access that determine how much of each entry can be viewed. The lowest level of access enables users to view innovation abstracts. A highest level of access allows viewing of entire patents, patent applications, trade secret information, development notes and documents prepared during the development of an innovation. Various in-between levels of access enable the viewing of successively larger portions of the intellectual assets stored in the database.  
         [0035]    Returning to FIG. 1, the PC  11 , for example, can access another PC  11  over a LAN  12  or a PC  14  over a WAN. This architecture allows engineers to easily collaborate from different locations. This architecture also avoids the pitfalls associated with information-isolation, such as performing wasteful duplicate research. Managers can now more easily track aspects of the company&#39;s intellectual capital portfolio; and marketing representatives, executives and attorneys can view both what products a company currently has protected as well as what coverage the company has for its research.  
         [0036]    In addition to providing internal access to information about intellectual capital, the present invention also allows a company to display information regarding its intellectual capital to outside entities. By displaying information regarding intellectual capital, a company will be able to leverage its intellectual capital more efficiently. However, since no company wants to compromise network security by granting access to its network to outside entities for the purposes of searching, PCs  11  or  14  can access PCs  31  or  34  through a listing server  20 .  
         [0037]    A database of abstracts is maintained on listing server  20  for storing abstracts released by each participating company for any intellectual capital that it wants to license out to others. Each participating company can also search the database on the listing server to identify any intellectual property that it may want,to license from other intellectual property owners. If a company finds the abstract of something it wants to take a license from another owner, it can retrieve contact information for the appropriate employee of the company that posted the abstract.  
         [0038]    When a user accesses the system, the main page  40 , as exemplified in FIGS. 3 and 4, is displayed. The first time a user accesses the main page  40 , basic information such as the user&#39;s name, job title, group, division, fields of expertise, professional degrees, professional associations, location, phone number, fax number and e-mail address, as shown in FIG. 4, is entered into the appropriate fields. Some of this information is automatically retrieved from existing employee databases. Any information that can not be found in the existing employee databases is left blank for the user to enter. Each subsequent time the user accesses the main page  40 , this basic information is displayed so that if any information has changed, it can be updated in the database. Additional information such as the user&#39;s level of access is controlled by a network administrator responsible for maintaining the security of the system.  
         [0039]    In addition to the user&#39;s basic information, the main page  40  provides links to a new inovation page  500 , an innovations folder  600 , an innovation query page  1200 , a PeerNet  1500 , a shared workspace  1800  and a ThoughtBox  2200 .  
         [0040]    When a user wants to enter information regarding a new innovation into the database, the user selects the new innovation tab  500  from the main page. The new innovation page, as depicted in FIG. 5, allows the user to enter the name of the innovation  510 , the applications for the innovation  512 , the development status  514 , the innovation disclosure date  516 , the abstract  518 , the general classification  520 , the ownership  522 , the access control  524  and who the innovation was created by  540 . This last field is broken down into personnel data such as the innovator&#39;s name  542 , title  544 , location  546  and division  548 .  
         [0041]    The general classification field  520  is a top-level user-defined category to facilitate searching. The access control  524  allows the user to identify: (i) the specific business units that can access the abstract and (ii) a password necessary for viewing. The ownership  522  specifies which business unit owns the innovation.  
         [0042]    While the user can enter all of this information, some or most of it may not be available at the time of creating a new innovation. As a result, not all of this information is necessary to start a new innovation folder. The current information for the user entering the new innovation data is automatically entered as the information for the creator of the innovation. However, the user can change this information if it is appropriate.  
         [0043]    Each user can be working on multiple innovations  610  and  640  at the same time. Accordingly, innovations folder  600 , depicted in FIG. 6, contains one entry for each innovation the user is working on, and can be accessed from every web page in the user interface. Each innovation that a user is working on is stored as a subfolder in the innovations folder  600 . For example, the subfolder for “Innovation 1”,  610 , would contain Innovation 1&#39;s abstract set  612 , any related queries  614 , a WorkTracker directory  616 , a PeerNet access link  618  and a shared workspace access link  620 .  
         [0044]    The WorkTracker directory  616 , as illustrated in FIG. 7, contains, at a minimum, the latest version of the innovation disclosure (written description) stored in an innovation disclosure folder  660 , the drawings stored in drawings folder  662  and any regulatory standards pertaining to the innovation stored in a regulatory standards folder  664 . In addition, previous versions of each of these documents are saved. This allows the creator to store and organize all information related to the innovation in one location. Also, subfolders can be added to the innovation disclosure folder  660 , the drawings folder  662  or the regulatory standards folder  664  to provide greater detail on the project.  
         [0045]    The abstract set  612  contains 4 files, as shown, for example, at the left side of FIG. 8. Specifically, the abstract set  612  includes an innovation abstract  800 , a strategy abstract  900 , a financial abstract  1000  and a legal abstract  1100 . The innovation abstract  800 , an example of which is shown in FIG. 8, contains basic scientific and/or technical information about the innovation that other members of the company can search over a LAN  12  or WAN  13 . This information includes the name of the innovation, the general classification, an abstract, applications, access control, the business unit and job title of the inventor, the development status, ownership and innovation disclosure date. In addition, if authorized by the company, the information can be released to the listing server  20  so that other companies can search it. If a password is entered into the access control, access to any information not contained in the abstract will require receiving permission from the document&#39;s creator or project leader.  
         [0046]    The second file in the abstract set  612  is the strategy abstract  900 . The strategic abstract  900 , an example of which is shown in FIG. 9, contains a strategic description of the innovation, an end-goal for the innovation, a priority status for completion, access control and contact information for the innovation. The strategy abstract  900  allows the company to identify the innovation&#39;s directive and priority.  
         [0047]    The third file in the abstract set  612  is the financial abstract  1000 . The financial abstract  1000 , an example of which is shown in FIG. 10, contains information on the financial status of the innovation, and allows financial professionals to include relevant information, such as: total development budget, investment to date, the remaining budget, the expected value, the expected cost of commercialization and access control.  
         [0048]    The fourth file in the abstract set  612  is the legal abstract  1100 . The legal abstract  1100 , an example of which is shown in FIG. 11, allows the company&#39;s attorneys to enter information regarding any patent applications or patents for the innovation so that executives can view the information at a glance.  
         [0049]    Each innovation subfolder  610  (FIG. 6) also contains a queries subfolder  614 . The queries subfolder  614  keeps a record of all of the user&#39;s queries relating to the innovation. When a user selects the queries subfolder, a list of queries that the user has executed from this innovation folder are listed. The user can also select to run a new query which will take the user to the innovation query page  1200 , such as that shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.  
         [0050]    In addition, a user can access the innovation query page  1200  directly from the main page  40  or any other tab in the user interface, as can be seen in FIG. 3. The innovation query page  1200  allows the user to search either internal abstracts, external abstracts or both. These abstracts can be searched by many different criteria including the name of the innovation  1202 , the abstract  1204 , the development status  1206 , the ownership of the innovation  1208 , the applications  1210 , the innovation disclosure date  1212 , the general classification  1214 , the business unit  1218 , the job title  1220  or the creation information  1230  (name  1232 , title  1234 , location  1236  and division  1238 ). The abstracts can also be searched by any combination of these criteria.  
         [0051]    When a search of the internal abstracts takes place, the user&#39;s PC  11 , for example, submits a query that is transmitted to all other PCs  11  and  14  that are within the company. This includes both PCs  11  connected to the user&#39;s PC  11  over a LAN and PCs  14  connected to the user&#39;s PC  11  over a WAN. Any PCs containing matching abstracts that the user has access to then transmits a response with the relevant information. When a search of the external abstracts takes place, the user&#39;s PC  11  submits a query to the listing server  20 . The listing server searches for any matching abstracts that are designated as public and transmits a response with those abstracts.  
         [0052]    An exemplary method for executing a query from a PC  11 , for example, is illustrated in FIG. 14 in accordance with present invention. In particular, after a user has accessed the system at step S 102 , the user submits a query using innovation query page  1200  at step S 104 . At step  106 , the system determines whether the user has indicated to search the internal network. If not, the query method proceeds to step S 122 , which will be described further below.  
         [0053]    If a search of the internal network is designated, in order to ensure that all the PCs in the system are queried, the system designates a first PC in the internal network to be searched at step S 108 , and then searches all of the innovation entries stored in that computer, at step S 110  to determine if any of those entries match the search criteria entered in the query. If any matching entries are found (S 112 ), the matching entries are returned to the querying PC  11  at step S 114 , and the entry information is displayed according to the level of access assigned to the user submitting the query (S 116 ).  
         [0054]    After execution of step S 116 , and also if no matching entries are found in the PC just searched, the process proceeds to step S 118 , where the system keeps track of which PCs have already been searched. If not all the PCs in the internal network have been searched (S 120 ), the process returns to search the next PC in the network.  
         [0055]    After all the PCs in the internal network have been searched, and also if the query does not designate a search of the internal network, the process proceeds to step S 122 , in which the system determines whether or not a search of the external network is desired. If not, the process is ended at step S 134 . If, on the other hand, an external search has been designated, the system sends the query to listing server  20 , at step S 124 , to determine whether any innovation entries designated for public access and viewing match the search criteria of the query (S 126 ). If not, the system returns a response to the querying PC  11  that no matching external entries were found (S 132 ), and the process is ended at step S 134 .  
         [0056]    As is the case with matching entries found in the internal network  10 , if matching entries are found on the listing server  20 , the system returns the matching entries to the querying PC  11  at step S 128 , whereupon the querying PC displays the matching entries according to the level of access allowed by the external entries and according to the user&#39;s assigned access level. The process is then ended at step S 134 .  
         [0057]    Once the user&#39;s PC  11  receives the results, the matching abstracts are listed, as shown in FIG. 15. The matching entries are listed in order of relevance to the search terms. The user can then select a matching entry and view the information. If the selected entry is an internal entry, the user can contact the inventor for further information. The internal entries can also be saved in the internal abstracts folder  1250  (FIG. 12) for future reference by the user or another user with access to the selected innovation. If the selected entry is an external entry, contact information for the other company is displayed. Similarly, the external abstract can be saved in an external abstracts folder  1260  (FIG. 12) for future reference by the user or another user with access to the selected innovation.  
         [0058]    In addition to an abstract set  612  and a queries subfolder  614 , each innovation subfolder  610  shown in FIG. 6 contains a PeerNet access link  618 . The PeerNet is a data repository that allows users to locate, store and categorize electronic profiles of professionals with desired expertise related to a particular innovation. The profiled professionals can be the user&#39;s peers from within the user&#39;s company or in other companies  30  connected to the listing server  20  (FIG. 1). The PeerNet access link  618  allows the user to access the PeerNet  1500  feature of the present invention, the organization of which is illustrated in FIG. 16. Like the innovation query page  1200 , the PeerNet  1500  can be accessed both from within an innovation subfolder or directly from the main page  40 , independently of any innovations.  
         [0059]    In an “ask peers” page  1530 , exemplified in FIG. 17, the PeerNet  1500  allows a user to ask questions of his or her peers by entering search criteria for identifying the peers to whom the question(s) is (are) to be posed, and a question  1550  into the page  1530 . The question  1550  is automatically e-mailed to all matching entries in the database. The user can search for people based on job title  1552 , fields of expertise  1554 , professional degrees  1556 , professional associations  1558 , name  1560 , division  1562  or location  1564 .  
         [0060]    Similarly, the PeerNet  1500  allows the user to search for peers with specific qualifications with the “find peers” page  1540 , as shown in FIG. 18. The “find peers” page  1540  allows the same criteria to be searched, but rather than automatically e-mailing a question to all matching entries, the “find peers” page  1540  displays a list of matching entries so that the user may view more detailed information on a particular person and then e-mail or call someone directly.  
         [0061]    Both the “ask peers” page  1530  and the “find peers” page  1540  allow the user to decide between searching internally, externally or searching both at the same time. When responses are received from people contacted through the PeerNet  1500 , the responses are stored in a subfolder for responses  1510 , as shown in FIG. 16.  
         [0062]    Once peers have been found using the PeerNet  1500 , various users can collaborate on a project using a shared workspace  1800 , as illustrated in FIGS.  19 - 22 . There are many different ways in which the shared workspace  1800  alleviates problems resulting form collaborating between people in different places. First, people can communicate using a discussion board  1810 , an instant messenger  1812  and voice chat feature  1814 . The discussion board  1810  allows the people collaborating on a project to post text that everyone else collaborating on the project can read and respond to at their leisure; the instant messenger  1812  allows two or more people to have a real-time text based conversation over the network; and the voice chat feature  1814  allows people to speak with each other through their respective PC&#39;s  11 ,  14 ,  31  or  34  without using the phone system. Another feature that facilitates collaboration is the multiple navigation tool  1816 , which allows one member of the team to navigate the internet while the others view what he or she is seeing.  
         [0063]    The remaining features of the shared workspace  1800  focus less on real time interaction between the collaborators, and more on enabling people in various locations to plan the progress of a project and share information in an organized and efficient manner. The task list  1818 , as exemplified in FIGS. 22 and 23, allows anyone involved in a project to view what tasks are assigned to whom and the status of each task at a glance. Also, tasks can be assigned and modified using the task list  1818 . The schedule  1820  allows people to see both a prospective schedule of tasks, expected completion dates and whether completed tasks were completed on schedule or behind schedule. In addition, the project manager can quickly and easily assign tasks to people in a variety of locations. The brainstorming tab  1822  provides a forum for discussing technical ideas relating to a project. This is especially helpful when the people involved in a project are in time zones that do not have overlapping work hours. The documents tab  1824 , as shown in FIG. 20, provides a repository for documents related to a project. Each member of a project can post documents that other member might want to see, and can view any documents that the other members have posted at this location. The links tab  1826  allows the users to post links that are pertinent to the project. Finally, the contacts tab  1828  allows the users to keep track of contact information for other people collaborating on the project.  
         [0064]    The shared workspace  1800  can be accessed directly from the main page  40  of the system (FIG. 3) or through a shared workspaces access link  620  in each innovation subfolder  610  (FIG. 6). When a user accesses the shared workspace  1800  either through the main page  40  or an innovation subfolder  610 , links or tabs to each of the real time interaction tools and planning and information sharing tools discussed above are displayed, as can be seen in FIGS.  20 - 22 .  
         [0065]    Another feature of the present invention which is accessible through the main page  40 , inter alia, as seen in FIG. 3, is the ThoughtBox  2200 , which provides an easy way of maintaining notes. When the thoughtbox  2200  link is selected, a window is opened in which the user may store notes or view previously stored notes for for a subfolder or information within a specific innovation  610 , as well as for a directory tree for all of that user&#39;s innovations. Unlike the previously described features of the innovation query page  1200 , the PeerNet  1500 , the shared workspaces  1800 , etc., the ThoughtBox  2200 , as shown in FIG. 23, is not accessible from within the innovations folder  600 . The part of an innovation that the user is currently viewing affects where the ThoughtBox  2200  stores information.For example, if the user selects the ThoughtBox  2200  while viewing the task list  1818  for innovation 1  610 , a window will appear displaying the user&#39;s previous notes for the task list  1818  for innovation 1. The user can then add a note to the ThoughtBox  2200  for the task list  1818  displayed on the screen, add a note to the ThotughtBox  2200  after selecting a different part of the directory for innovation 1  610  or any other innovation to which the user has access or close the ThoughtBox  2200 . If there are three users collaborating on a project, each will be able to view the notes that the others store in the ThoughtBox  2200 .  
         [0066]    The above invention provides a system and method for documenting, tracking and facilitating development of intellectual capital. While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments various additions, deletions, substitutions, or other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.