KHE International Patent Office
Case Study

Failure due to lack of awareness of the importance of peripheral patents

Company A, manufacturing chemical materials, succeeded to develop high-performance plastic film and started a new manufacturing and sales business of the film material and application products utilizing the film performance in three large application areas.  At the stage of developing application products, Company A judged that their competitors would be difficult to obtain new patents in such application since the application technology seemed to be less novelty and inventive and did not research relevant or alternative technologies and counter or avoiding ones.  After Company A started the new business, they found Company B which is competing Company A had already held patents to the application technology and Company B had business plan to supply high-performance plastic films to the application field.  Then Company A had to give up such business even the quality of their plastic films was better than that of Company B’s product.

Problem of Company A

Company A should have to study to obtain patents for the peripheral technologies even they seemed to be less patentability.  In the process of such study, Company A could have made technical countermeasures and drafted effective business plans.  Company A that recognized they originally invented a breakthrough material in the developing stage had to obtain patents widely covering their application technologies, countermeasure method and alternative technologies to the original invention.