Navigating through the Process and Relevancy
Introduction
It is often said that innovation stems from a need for a better future. Various inventions have stemmed from this need to fill a vacuum or an empty space that can be utilized to create an article that would benefit both the creator as well as the user. With this as a backdrop, today's innovators work at a fast pace to keep up with rapid advancements in modern technology. The rapid advancement in technology, especially in fields closely connected to social welfare, businesses and individuals face a much more imminent need to manage and protect their intellectual property in order to balance the competition.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) collectively refer to the legal framework that grants protection to the creator or innovator who generates a certain property, tangible or intangible, through their intellect or creativity like a design, or literary work or invention. These rights foster a sense of security among the creators, thereby encouraging more innovation, which in turn results in economic benefits to both the society and the creator. In today's highly competitive global market, effective IPR management is critical to combating illicit use, infringement, and misuse, all of which can result in substantial monetary consequences for creators and businesses.
In this evolving world of complex innovations around every corner, managing IPR, especially in the digital arena, has become one of the most primary tasks for businesses and innovators in order to both protect their existing IP and to gauge the need for further innovation as and when required. One of the most simplistic ways to analyze risk in introducing a new innovation in the market is the White Space Analysis. This article aims to delve deeper into the process of White Space Analysis and its relevance in the contemporary world.
White Space Analysis
White space in literal terms can be termed as an opportunity. Essentially, "White Space" is an area where there is quite less or no innovation or in other words, no patenting activity has been done in that particular field or industry. "White Space" helps to designate a systematic methodology to identify this absence (or much lower density) of patent/protected prior art in a specific area or product or industry as a primary driver of decision making in order to make the company be the "first-to-market". Tools like Patent Landscape Analysis and Competitive Intelligence analysis further help to research in the White Space. Customer Research is also another tool that might help to identify areas with unmet needs or unidentified ones.1 The gaps identified as a white space are the driving factors behind further development in a race to introduce a patentable innovation and making that space economically accessible to the others for further activity.
It is a strategic method of analyzing the risks and associated benefits while entertaining the thought of introducing a particular product in the market so as to safely claim proprietary rights over that product.
White Space Analysis: The Need of the Hour?
The constantly growing competition in the global market, and the surge in patent information, businesses across the globe face the urgent need to manage their IP more strictly and effectively in order to maintain the competitive edge. A simple review of the patent and non-patent literature is typically conducted to provide an overview of a specific technology area. This task may precede or facilitate technology brainstorming, or it may be used to aid and validate invention concept.
IP surveillance involves monitoring newly published patent applications or issued patents within specific technology areas. This activity involves ongoing research, advanced development, and product development to support "patent intelligence" or "competitive intelligence." Currently available commercial patent-search tools enable the generation of sophisticated search terms, automated search frequency, and e-mail delivery of results. The level of analysis and how it is delivered is user-defined. Each individual or business which is concerned with a particular market area can define their own boundaries and objectives of the search which are tailored to their specific requirements.
This patentability or novelty search is usually done by mapping the features of the patent to be introduced to those of the patents already available in the market in order to assess whether there are any similarities between the IP and if they can be removed so as to avoid unnecessary litigation. A patent landscape may be useful for providing information on potential areas of research and invention, indicating current position strength, (comparing new disclosures, prefile applications, patent applications in prosecution, and issued patents relative to competitors), or defining technology "gaps" or "white space."2 A series of constantly refined searches can help in identifying the white space. This white space thus helps in harnessing the yet to be realised market opportunity and profiting thereof without running the risk of clashing similarities.
The How of the White Space Analysis
A white space analysis is usually carried out by plotting graphs and analyzing the consumer interaction. The process of white-space analysis starts with the search for what has already been done and making extrapolations and generating ideas to find out what else can be done within a market, analysing the existing literature and understanding the evolving market conditions.3 As the market evolves, the volume of existing patents also increases, thereby making white space mapping an essential practice to avoid risks and unnecessary losses in business.
However, before beginning to map the white space, it is imperative that the proprietor have a clear idea of their expectations from realisation of the space. These expectations are broadly divided into 3 perspectives:
- Internally Centered Perspective: This view relies on the innovator's own skills as a scale to compare those of the others to analyze the response of the innovator to possible risks and also to predict future expansion.
- Externally Centered Perspective: This perspective deals with the analysis of a target market area in order to identify whether it requires any innovation which can be capitalized on.
- Future Perspective: This perspective uses current and prevalent trends in the market to predict and extrapolate future requirements so as to be prepared in advance and capitalize on a utilitarian innovation without the fear of intervention by any other party.
For a successful white space analysis to be conducted, the innovator has to have a clear idea of their intention, target consumer base and the time when they want to introduce the product. This will reduce the risks and the time consumed to reach the desired result.
Relevance of White Space Analysis
As the world encounters new developments, the need for innovations which facilitate the new normal also arises, thereby revolutionizing the earlier unused or rarely used areas of society. One such area is renewable energy, which has gained traction in recent times due to rampant climate change. Numerous combative strategies and inventions have been introduced in this field and are still being introduced, thereby making it an area where identifying the white space before launching a patent becomes extremely relevant. Analysing the patenting activity in the area will help in studying the global patenting trends in the area of renewable energy, the patents having the features of interest, in identifying the potential applications of upcoming technologies in the area and in studying the competitor trends along with technology analysis based on the IPCs, in identifying potential licensing opportunities and collaboration partners, with a view to pursue further research and in identifying the white space for future research.4 Hence identifying white space not only benefits the innovators but also the consumers as it provides a variety of choices.
Conclusion
Technology development and intellectual property management must be integrated to ensure commercial success and company viability. Integrating IPM practices into innovation and product development is crucial due to the complexity of high-technology research and development, global market strategies, shorter product life cycles, and expanding product portfolios.
The identification of white space as a part of IP management helps in guiding the innovators and specifying the scope of the possible business opportunity without the risk of any infringement. It further helps the innovator to grow their patent portfolio by pointing out the possible marketable areas. White space analysis could also be used as a tool to understand consumer behaviour so that the demand and supply complement each other as a mutual benefit to the consumer as well as the innovator.
White space analysis guides research and development opportunities in the renewable energy sector. Global governments and policymakers are accelerating the sector's development through legislation and support mechanisms. Many countries have sector-specific laws and ordinances mandating the purchase of renewable energy and promoting specific technologies such as biomass, wind power, and geothermal energy.
Footnotes
1. White Space Analysis & Patent Landscape Analysis, https://www.iiprd.com/white-space-analysis/ (Last Accessed on 7 September 2024).
2. Jeremy Burdon, "IP Portfolio Management: Negotiating the Information Labyrinth", Negotiating the Information Labyrinth. In Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices (eds. A Krattiger, RT Mahoney, L Nelsen, et al.), pp. 1195-1201.
3. Intellectual Property White Space Analysis: What is White-Space in the Patent World?, https://www.levinconsultinggroup.com/white-space-analysis-for-patents/ (Last Accessed on 7 September 2024).
4. Shweta Khurana and T K Bandyopadhyay, "Patenting in Renewable Energy Sector- An Analysis", Journal of Intellectual Property Rights Vol 23, pp 44-50.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.