Knowing your competitive playing field is a strategic advantage. Not just to make nervous legal advisors happy – there are actually concrete commercial advantages for your business:
1. COMPETITIVE INSIGHTS
Uncover where you stand versus competitors, identifying possible gaps and areas for differentiation, to enhance your unique market position.
2. MARKET DYNAMICS
Reveal unseen industry trends, so you can anticipate shifts to ensure your offering will be relevant and impactful.
3. RISK MITIGATION
Steer clear of potential distractions and legal entanglements.
4. PARTNERSHIPS
Identify potential collaborators or acquisition interest based on complementary portfolios or possible synergies.
5. INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
Show them your market intelligence, risk awareness, and strategic foresight.
6. INNOVATION CATALYST
Inspire new ideas and approaches, to spark your own creativity (…just don’t forget number 3 above).
Even if you opt not to file your own patents, overlooking others’ patents is neither sound business nor a long-term success strategy.
Free, online tools like ESPACENET (see the cheatsheet) offer what you need to kickstart this process. You can start even right now.
Checkout this cheatsheet for more.
