Day 1 · Module 1 30 min pre-work · 60 min session · 45 min challenge

IP Strategy: Protection, Execution, and the Open Alternative

Patents aren't the only moat. Learn when to protect, when to publish, and when to give it away-and why the choice might define your organisation's future.

What you'll learn

Understand the four main IP tools (patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyright) and the disclosure bargain behind them
Map the three-stage IP journey, from execution-first through selective protection to a defensive portfolio
Weigh the open alternative (publication, open source, consortium models) as a strategic choice rather than a concession
Name the one IP decision your own work is facing in the next 12 months

Pre-Work (~30 minutes)

Intellectual property law is often framed as the natural first step for researcher-entrepreneurs: file a patent, protect your innovation, then commercialise. But this narrative obscures a more interesting truth: the most successful research-based ventures usually start by ignoring IP and winning on execution, then build protection as they grow. This lesson explores that tension. By the end you should be able to map your own work onto a strategic framework rather than defaulting to “file a patent” or “just publish.”

Complete before the session. Bring your reflections.

Read: The Basics of IP Protection

IP law makes a bargain with inventors: disclose your innovation fully, and we’ll give you a temporary monopoly (typically 20 years for patents) to commercialise it. After that, the knowledge is public. The idea is to encourage sharing over secrecy-and to reward the risk of R&D investment.

Four main tools:

Type	Covers	Duration	Cost (rough)
Patent	Functional inventions, processes	20 years	$15K–50K+ internationally
Trademark	Brand names, logos	Indefinite (with maintenance)	$1K–5K+
Trade Secret	Confidential know-how	Until disclosed	Minimal (NDAs, security)
Copyright	Written works, software code	Life + 70 years	Very low

The catch: Patents require full public disclosure. Once you file, competitors can read exactly how your invention works-often before you’ve reached the market.

Read: The Three-Stage IP Journey

Stage 1, Execution First (0–2 years) Early on, your competitive advantage is speed and expertise, not paperwork. A patent costs $15–50K internationally, takes 2–4 years to grant, and requires disclosing your approach publicly. Meanwhile, your technology may evolve or become obsolete. Most successful early-stage ventures win by building faster and serving customers better than anyone else.

Protect cheaply: use trademarks for your brand, NDAs for sensitive know-how, and copyright for your software and documents. Reserve patent filings for genuine breakthroughs with clear commercial potential.

Stage 2, Selective Protection (2–5 years) Once you’ve validated your market and proven your model, your innovations are worth protecting. Competitors will have noticed you. File patents on core differentiators-things that would genuinely harm your business if copied. Start monitoring what competitors are filing. Consider which international markets matter most.

Stage 3, Defensive Portfolio (5+ years) At scale, IP protection becomes infrastructure. You need a portfolio not primarily to attack competitors, but to defend against patent trolls and enable cross-licensing deals. Freedom-to-operate matters globally. IP portfolios affect acquisition valuations and investment due diligence.

Read: The Open Alternative

Open source and research publication create prior art-public records that prevent anyone from later patenting the same idea. This is a powerful defensive tool:

Linux created such extensive prior art through open development that proprietary OS patents couldn’t block the entire ecosystem.
IBM famously pivoted in 2000, investing $1 billion in Linux and open source. By 2010, this drove $60B+ in annual services revenue-far exceeding what they’d earned from patent licensing. Their open source credibility enabled the $34B Red Hat acquisition.
Tesla opened all its patents in 2014, reasoning that network effects and infrastructure mattered more than exclusivity. The EV industry accelerated; Tesla maintained leadership.

Non-profit and consortium models let multiple organisations share R&D costs and IP risk. Open Invention Network, Apache Software Foundation, and Creative Commons each demonstrate ways to build collectively without anyone owning the core.

The trade-off: open source is hard to monetise directly. Successful models layer services, support, hosting, or premium features on top of an open core.

Case Studies

IBM’s Open Source Transformation (2000–2010) In the 1990s IBM held 40,000+ patents and earned $1 billion annually in licensing. By 2000, their proprietary software was losing to nimbler competitors. IBM made a $1 billion bet on Linux-contributing thousands of patents to open source, releasing major software components under open licences, and pivoting from selling licences to selling services. Critics called it suicide. By 2010, IBM’s services revenue exceeded $60 billion annually. The strategy culminated in the $34B acquisition of Red Hat in 2019.

Theranos and the Patent Mirage (2003–2018) Theranos built a $9 billion valuation on 800+ patent applications. CEO Elizabeth Holmes cited the patent portfolio as proof of competitive moat. But the patents covered theoretical approaches to blood testing-there was no working technology behind them. When the deception unravelled, the IP portfolio was worthless. Holmes was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11+ years. The lesson: patents without execution create no value, and can mask dangerous gaps.

Reflection Prompts (bring your answers to the session)

What stage of the IP journey does your current work or idea occupy? Stage 1, 2, or 3?
Is there something in your research you’d rather publish than patent-and why?
Who in your field has built a moat through execution rather than IP? How?

type: reflection_response
id: ip-strategy-prework-reflection
prompt: "Answer one or all three prompts above before the session. You'll revisit these during Discussion 1."
min_words: 40

Session

Facilitator guide for a 60-minute discussion. Participants should have completed the pre-work before arriving.

Before You Begin

Check in quickly: did everyone complete the pre-work? If not, give 5 minutes to skim the three reflection prompts at the bottom of the pre-work. The discussion builds on those.

Room setup: Works in plenary or in groups of 4–6 with a brief share-back. For online delivery, use breakout rooms for discussions 2–4, then return to plenary for 5–6.

Discussion 1: The Assumption Check (10 min)

Opening plenary. Purpose: surface what participants already believe so the session can challenge it.

Ask the group: “Before you read the pre-work, what did you assume the first step was when you had something worth commercialising?”

Listen for: “file a patent,” “talk to the tech transfer office,” “get an NDA signed.” These are the defaults the session is designed to complicate.

Follow up: “Has that assumption shifted at all? What shifted it?”

Don’t correct or affirm yet, capture the range of starting positions on a whiteboard or shared doc. You’ll return to these at the end.

Discussion 2: The IBM Question (10 min)

Small groups, then brief share-back. Purpose: test the open source logic against participants’ instincts.

Prompt for small groups:

IBM had 40,000 patents and $1 billion in annual licensing revenue, then gave most of it away and made far more money. What had to be true about their business for that to work? Would the same logic apply to your research?

type: session_response
id: ip-strategy-session-ibm
prompt: "What had to be true about IBM's business for that pivot to work? Is there an equivalent \"services layer\" for your research?"
min_words: 30

Prompts to push the discussion deeper if groups stall:

What did IBM sell after giving away the software?
What would the equivalent “services layer” look like on top of your research?
Is there anything in your field that’s already effectively open, and who’s profiting from it?

Share-back: one insight per group, 30 seconds each.

Discussion 3: The Theranos Mirror (10 min)

Pairs or trios. Purpose: make the execution-vs-IP distinction personal and concrete.

Prompt:

Theranos had 800+ patents and no working product. Think of something in your own field, a method, a dataset, a piece of software, where the real value is in the execution, not the protection. What makes it hard to copy even without a patent?

type: session_response
id: ip-strategy-session-theranos
prompt: "Name something in your field where the real moat is execution, not IP. What would a well-resourced competitor actually need to do to replicate it?"
min_words: 30

This is often uncomfortable. Participants who haven’t thought about their work as commercially defensible may draw a blank, that’s useful information. Encourage them to name what would actually need to happen for a competitor to replicate what they do.

Follow with plenary: “What did you find when you tried to name your actual moat?”

Discussion 4: Stage Mapping (15 min)

This is the core of the session. Plenary or small groups depending on cohort size.

Put the three stages on screen or whiteboard:

Stage 1, Execution First (0–2 years): Speed and expertise are your moat. Minimal IP spend. Stage 2, Selective Protection (2–5 years): File on core differentiators. Monitor competitors. Stage 3, Defensive Portfolio (5+ years): IP as infrastructure. Cross-licensing. Due diligence.

Ask each participant (or group) to place their current work on this map. Then discuss:

“What’s your honest answer, which stage are you actually in?” Not where you wish you were. Not where the tech transfer office thinks you should be.
“What would have to change in the next 12 months for you to move to the next stage? Is that a goal, or a concern?”
“Is there anyone in this room who’s considering skipping the IP route entirely, open source, consulting, publishing-first? What’s the appeal?”

type: session_response
id: ip-strategy-session-stage-map
prompt: "Which stage are you honestly in right now? What would need to change to move to the next stage, and do you want that?"
min_words: 40

Facilitator note: protect the “skipping the IP route” voices. This is often where the most interesting thinking in the room is.

Discussion 5: The Decision You’re Avoiding (10 min)

Plenary. Purpose: bridge the abstract to the personal before the challenge.

Ask directly: “What’s the IP or publishing decision you’ve been putting off? What’s made it hard to decide?”

This is often the most valuable five minutes of the session. Common answers: “I don’t know if it’s worth patenting,” “my supervisor wants to publish but the tech transfer office wants to hold,” “I’m worried about disclosing too early.” Let the group help each other think through these, don’t rush to solutions.

If the group is quiet, use this prompt: “What would you do if you found out a competitor just filed on something similar to your work?”

Wrap-Up (5 min)

Return to the whiteboard from Discussion 1. Ask: “What’s changed in how you’re thinking about this?”

Then frame the challenge: “The homework isn’t hypothetical. It’s a real audit of one piece of your actual work. The question in Part 4, the one decision you’re facing, is what we’ll pick up in your mentoring check-in.”

Challenge (Homework, ~45 min)

Do this within a week of the session. This is for you, not for a grade.

Your IP Strategy Audit

Work through these questions for one piece of research, idea, or project you’re actively developing (or could imagine developing):

Part 1, Stage Assessment

Which stage are you in? (Execution Focus / Selective Protection / Defensive Portfolio)
What is your primary competitive advantage right now: speed, expertise, relationships, or IP?
What would it cost a well-resourced competitor to replicate what you do?

type: challenge_prompt
id: ip-strategy-challenge-1
prompt: "Stage Assessment: Which stage are you in, what is your primary competitive advantage, and what would it realistically cost a well-resourced competitor to replicate what you do?"
min_words: 80

Part 2, What’s Worth Protecting

Is there one specific innovation that, if copied, would seriously damage your business or project?
Would a patent, trade secret, trademark, or copyright best protect it?
What does protection cost vs. what does exposure cost?

type: challenge_prompt
id: ip-strategy-challenge-2
prompt: "What's Worth Protecting: Describe the one innovation most worth protecting, which IP tool fits best, and your rough estimate of protection cost vs. exposure cost."
min_words: 80

Part 3, The Open Alternative

Would open-sourcing or publishing your core method accelerate your goals rather than undermine them? (Think: building a community, creating prior art, attracting collaborators)
Is there a non-profit or consortium model that would let you focus on the work you love while others worry about the business model?

type: challenge_prompt
id: ip-strategy-challenge-3
prompt: "The Open Alternative: Could open-sourcing or publishing your core method accelerate your goals? Is there a non-profit or consortium model that fits your situation?"
min_words: 60

Part 4, Your One Decision Complete these sentences: The most important IP decision facing my work in the next 12 months is ______. My current instinct is ______. What I’m uncertain about is ______.

type: challenge_prompt
id: ip-strategy-challenge-4
prompt: "Your One Decision: Complete the three sentences above. This response is what you'll bring to your first mentoring check-in."
min_words: 40

Bring Part 4 to your next mentoring check-in.

Key Concepts Reference

Prior art: Any publicly available evidence that an invention already existed before a patent was filed. Creates a legal defence against patent claims.

Freedom to operate (FTO): Analysis of whether you can commercialise a product without infringing existing patents.

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): International filing system that lets you delay the expensive decision of which countries to file in. Buys ~18 months.

Defensive patent portfolio: Patents held not to sue competitors, but to deter lawsuits and enable cross-licensing. Common at scale.

Open Invention Network (OIN): Consortium that acquires patents specifically to protect Linux and open source projects. 3,000+ patents, royalty-free to members.

Trade secret: Confidential business information protected through secrecy rather than registration. Protection lasts until disclosed (accidentally or otherwise).

Copyleft: Open source licensing approach (e.g., GPL) that requires derivative works to also be open source. Prevents “embrace, extend, extinguish” by proprietary players.