Reflecting on the past year, especially having read my end of year post from 2004, I have accomplished much more than I generally think I have. In the day to day grind of getting work out the door and taking care of the small things, it is easy to lose sight of the big strides of progress that are being made.
My practice has taken off tremendously this year. I was very satisfied with 2004’s results, and it has nearly doubled in 2005. Most of my clients are absolutely ecstatic with my work, and referrals are pouring in.
I have kept blogging all year, keeping with my personal format of trying to write articles that cover an issue or thought in a little bit of depth and might be useful over a long period of time. Admittedly, I have written less than I anticipated, but I have begun to develop a sizeable amount of content.
Along those lines, I have been slowly working on a new website/blog redesign. I have contracted with a design firm to generate templates for a new blog and website for Expression Engine, one of the best content management systems out there. As part of the redesign, I am trying to get all my posts organized and cross referenced into useful categories. I have been experimenting with different formats and techniques using EE that are pretty powerful. I hope to have the new blog turned on soon.
One thing that I have not been able to do is invent as much as I would have liked. I have been culturing a few ideas in the back of my head, but have not had the time to chase the ideas and see where they lead.
Over time, I have been developing ideas and concepts for management of IP. One element is a deep, thorough understanding of a client’s business that is used to develop a wealth of IP that is subsequently licensed or sold in a liquidation event. I bring much more than patent law, but also a keen eye for technology, innovation, and business to the table. Few, if any, other patent professionals bring that type of experience and expertise to the table. Next year, I plan on solidifying many of the ideas and putting more of them in practice with existing clients and maybe some new ones. Many of those ideas will show up in this blog, as I work through the concepts and put them into words.
For the coming year, I hope to grow my patent practice in a few ways. The first is to grow my relationships with existing clients who really see the value of what I offer, and look for potential clients that fit that mold. The second is to further refine the processes I use to run the business, from the menial filing and correspondence generation, to data storage and docketing. As the practice gets busier, these things can be fine tuned so that they are more effective but consume less of my time, leaving more brainpower and energy to address real client needs.
I also plan on doing more in the way of IP management, including developing patent portfolios and expanding some innovative ways to finance and manage portfolio development. I have made a first couple steps to developing this business plan in 2005, and I hope to have much more progress in 2006.
Through all of this, I will keep blogging. The most rewarding part of my practice over the last year and a half has been my blog as an outlet for working through some of the ideas that have been in my head, but also as a two way communication with many readers, some of whom I met in Chicago at BlawgThink this past November. Being active in the blogging community has been incredibly rewarding, much more than I could have expected.
