Back in 2019, I penned two satirical "love letters," the first sent by a fictitious IP client to its fictitious law firm, the second sent by the law firm in reply to the client's letter. Although I employed levity** to capture readers' attention, the substance of the letters actually is quite serious. Together, the letters highlight challenges inherent in many law firm and client relationships, such as: Friction due to misaligned interests, or a perception thereof Mistrust and misunderstandings Actual or perceived complacency Adversarial, zero-sum, or transactional mindsets Absence of fit-for-purpose protocols and tools for working together In a given relationship, if these challenges are allowed to become chronic, a law firm's relationship with a client inevitably suffers. The client may send less work, interactions may become turbulent or vulnerable to bumps in the road, and worst case, the client may transfer its work to another firm. Firms that passively or reactively tend to the building and maintenance of client relationships do themselves and their clients a great disservice. In contrast, firms that take a proactive approach position themselves for great success, including growth and higher profitability. Robustness Matters Client relationship assessments are an excellent tool for law firms to demonstrate their commitment to client service, and to proactively drive up their performance in ways that will get, and keep, clients' attention. Unfortunately, all assessments aren't created equal. In some law firms, relationship partners commonly take an informal approach, merely asking clients, "How are we doing?" or "What can we do better?". Other law firms send satisfaction surveys to clients. Then, they dispatch to the client the firm's managing partner or another firm representative who's not part of the client service team to discuss the survey results. Although the above approaches may gather instructive bits of information, they often fail to elicit holistic, candid, and actionable feedback and insights. This is because they may not examine all relevant aspects of the firm-client relationship. Also, they may not foster ideal conditions for client contacts to be fully transparent and communicative of needs and frustrations. Hallmarks of a Robust Client Relationship Assessment A highly-effective client relationship assessment is comprehensive. It looks at all aspects of the relationship, including the firm's tactical performance, responsiveness, capabilities, fee structures, initiative, and interpersonal engagement, among other aspects. It's also two-sided, amassing honest client and firm perspectives and comparing the two to tease out reality and perceived reality. It also brings the law firm and the client together for constructive dialogue and brainstorming. And it leads to tangible action plans that a firm executes, and regularly revisits, going forward, so that it can perform at a consistently high level that creates strong organizational and personal bonds between the parties, all for mutual long-term benefit. Our Client Relationship Assessments Quartal IP leads robust individualized relationship assessments to give law firms new clarity and help them define specific avenues for strengthening key client relationships. ​ For each client of your choosing, our collaborative framework gathers and compares feedback from your team and that client on pertinent aspects of the firm-client relationship. We conduct one or more joint sessions with you and your client to identify areas in need of improvement, facilitate greater mutual understanding, and prepare an action plan. We then help guide your implementation of designated action items, assess their ongoing effectiveness, and serve as a resource going forwar​d. Please contact us if you would like to discuss how we can help you strengthen your client relationships. **Melodramatic and humorous by design, the love letters made many IP professionals chuckle. Particularly astute readers noticed how I generously sprinkled Easter eggs into the letters, in the form of intellectual property and legal jargon that has alternative non-IP and non-legal meanings suitable for "lovers."

"Marty" (Carlo Cotrone) and "Doc Brown" (Chris Ramey), Halloween 2015, Houston, Texas. Like many of my generation, I have great fondness for the Back to the Future trilogy of movies released from 1985 to 1990. Indisputably iconic, the trilogy has engaging characters, imaginative story lines, and a fanciful alchemy of science, futurism, and timeless themes of growing up and older. A mentoring relationship between protagonists Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown ("Doc") is evident from the outset and evolves throughout the trilogy. Besides being fun to watch, the characters' relationship reveals salient insights that IP and legal practitioners can apply to their professional and personal lives. Marty and Doc In the year 1985, Marty is a somewhat insecure 17-year-old high school senior who loves to play the guitar and hang out with his girlfriend. Doc is a much older eccentric scientist-bachelor who's devoted his family fortune to building a time machine. Early on, we learn that Doc is a mentor to Marty, who provides assistance with Doc's science experiments. When Marty unwittingly travels back to 1955 in Doc's DeLorean time machine, he encounters a much younger version of Doc, who helps him get back to the future (of 1985). Over the course of their adventures, including subsequent journeys to 2015, an alternate version of 1985, and the Old West of 1885, the bond between the characters deepens and each grows individually. Mentoring Insights Mentors and Mentees Can Be in Different Fields or Firms Marty and Doc seemingly could not be any more different in terms of personality, generation, background, knowledge, and interests. We don't know how the two originally met, but Marty clearly values Doc as a mentor and friend. In the IP and legal realm, no matter how much we want to, we can't always find a mentor in our own organization. Even when our practice group or department assigns one to us, absent authentic synergy and commitment, that person may be a mentor in name only. The example of Marty and Doc reminds us that sometimes mentors and mentees may emerge from outside our organization and yet have a significant positive impact. We should embrace such relationships, whether as mentor or mentee. A Mentor Generously Shares Wisdom and Experience Despite having notably more education and seniority, Doc invites Marty into his life and his quest to realize his inventive dreams. Through twists, turns, and barriers that present existential dangers to Marty's future, Doc works tirelessly to help him find his way. Someone who selflessly shares wisdom and experience with a mentee certainly deserves to be called a mentor. As IP and legal professionals, we can easily spot the genuine article. A true mentor is priceless. Mentors and Mentees Aren't Perfect As the odyssey unfolds, we observe some of Marty's blind spots and crises that ensue as a result. For instance, he conceives a betting scheme to get rich using a sports almanac from 2015; the scheme backfires, creating a dystopian 1985. And his insecurities about being called "chicken" lead to a music career-ending car accident that tarnishes his future. Doc stumbles as well. He is socially awkward and struggles to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. These imperfections notwithstanding, Doc and Marty each focus on the good in, and potential of, each other. They accept and seek to understand each other. It's common for IP and legal professionals to hold themselves to unreasonably high standards of strength and performance. Mentor-mentee relationships like that of Doc and Marty offer a safe space of vulnerability that promotes meaningful teaching and learning. Mentoring Relationships Are Bidirectional The Back to the Future trilogy has its share of poignant moments. Among them is the reunion of Marty and Doc at the end of Part III, in which Doc introduces his young family to Marty. At that moment, we realize just how much Marty has "mentored up" throughout their adventures, helping Doc to loosen up, take social risks, and find new happiness. A consequential mentoring relationship involving an IP or legal professional--whether as mentor and mentee--is much the same. The mentor learns by seeing the world through the mentee's eyes and feels affirmed by helping the mentee navigate obstacles. Mentees Ultimately Choose Their Own Path From the opening clock scene in the trilogy, to the final scene in which Marty declines a road race--thus averting the aforementioned car accident--it's clear that Marty is in the driver's seat of his life, sometimes literally but always metaphorically. He's making his own decisions, with agency to follow, or not follow, available courses of action. As mentor, Doc can only teach, admonish, and encourage. The rest is up to his mentee. This is the same mentoring paradigm in IP and legal contexts. A mentor can and often does give his or her very best to the mentoring relationship, but the mentee's attainment of success and realization of his or her full potential are never a given. Like a parent, a mentor must step aside and hope that the mentee exhibits humility, emotional intelligence, and sound judgment when presented with opportunities and challenges. Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor The above sage mentoring insights are low-hanging fruit for IP and legal professionals who seek to grow and help others to grow. Doc Brown perhaps said it best: "Your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one."

Writing metaphorically about proactive measures in the field of fire safety, Benjamin Franklin penned these words in 1735: " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In the intervening nearly 300 years, the wisdom of these words has been applied to innumerable fields and contexts. The field of corporate intellectual property is no exception. Indeed, companies that take a reactive approach to IP strategy and execution, operations and strategic planning, collaboration, and leadership development face a host of potential headwinds. They may: overlook significant competitive and transactional risks; miss opportunities to fully exploit the value of IP; operate inefficiently and at unnecessarily high expense; and fail to tap into the full potential of their IP workforce. I've often written about these dangers, such as in my article titled " Is Your Corporate IP Department a Trick or a Treat? Beware of Spooky Costume Choices ." In that article, I pinpointed possible deficiencies in IP programs and IP departments. I then encouraged corporate executives and brave IP leaders to shine a light on the status quo as a vehicle for constructive change. Comprehensive IP Health and Stewardship Assessments Are the First Step A robust, comprehensive IP assessment or IP audit performed by an independent expert can help you get a handle on what's working, what's not, and everything in between. Such an assessment typically is multifaceted, examining (1) business impacts of your IP strategy and its overall alignment with business imperatives, (2) operational effectiveness of your strategy, and (3) effectiveness of your IP leaders and other IP personnel. It can help you chart a course for elevating performance and impacts of your IP program and those charged with administering it. It can drive significant, sustained change. Our IP Health and Stewardship Assessments Quartal IP leads robust IP health and stewardship assessments to give companies new clarity and help them define specific avenues for strengthening their IP program. ​ Our collaborative framework gathers and analyzes feedback from your team and stakeholders on pertinent aspects of your current strategies and their execution, related to IP protection and risk mitigation (including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, and AI), IP operations, and talent and leadership development. We conduct sessions with you to explore areas in need of improvement and prepare an action plan. We then help guide your implementation of designated action items, assess their ongoing effectiveness, and serve as a resource going forwar​d. Please contact us  if you would like to discuss how we can help you strengthen your corporate IP program.

It is almost indisputable that a sound intellectual property (IP) strategy, and effective execution of such a strategy, are essential ingredients of a technology company’s road to success. An IP strategy is an action plan with principal objectives of (a) protecting company IP and leveraging it for economic benefit—an offensive component of the strategy, and (b) navigating the minefield of third-party IP rights—a defensive component of the strategy. Some corporate IP strategies may seem sound in theory, but in practice they are (a) selectively or inconsistently applied within or across projects, (b) incompatible with how teams actually work, (c) relatively narrow in how they perceive innovation, and (d) distracting to innovators and IP practitioners while consuming enormous resources. Ultimately, the return on IP investment of such strategies may be questionable. Enterprises that periodically take a step back to reflect on their current IP strategies, and recalibrate them if appropriate, are likely to derive the greatest possible value from IP. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

For corporate intellectual property practitioners, the quest to excel can be daunting and all-consuming. Indeed, IP teams and their clients face a multitude of complex internal and external challenges amidst an ever-evolving business, legal, and technology landscape. Cognizant of the considerable trust and influence bestowed upon them by the C-suite, IP teams naturally desire to perform at the highest possible level. To build a formidable IP function, corporate IP teams can leverage the following ten tips. Likewise, teams within corporate legal departments, law firms, and legal and IP software and service providers can adapt and apply these tips to great effect. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

Over the years, I’ve worked directly with or observed countless professionals. Some collaborate effortlessly with all manner of personalities, while others struggle. In my experience, the most holistically successful professionals embody the attributes of servant leaders. IP and legal professionals who consistently act as servant leaders are most likely to succeed inside and outside an organization, and to find sustained professional and personal fulfillment. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

In-house attorneys sometimes compartmentalize their work lives in counterproductive ways. The hit TV show "Severance" offers instructive lessons: A prudent legal professional both  serves their current employer with excellence  and  is active in the wider professional community. To read the full article, please visit LinkedIn .

Increasingly, small, midsize, and large companies are embracing pragmatic, unconventional ways of addressing internal gaps in intellectual property and legal expertise related to IP strategy, operations, and leadership. For instance, companies are engaging fractional or interim chief IP, patent, or trademark counsel. This includes both companies lacking embedded IP departments, as well as others with such departments, but that have open leadership positions or are looking for fresh thinking to complement talents of their existing team. Generally speaking, a fractional or on-demand attorney is a part-time or project-based legal professional who provides specialized corporate legal services to businesses without the need for a full-time hire. Unlike traditional in-house counsel employed by a corporation, fractional attorneys operate on a flexible, contractual basis, often on a long-term basis. An interim attorney is similar to a fractional attorney, but the associated term of engagement is typically more time-limited, such as to tackle needs and challenges prompted by a vacancy or other transition. Models for fractional or interim general counsel or corporate attorney placements can be adapted readily and effectively to the IP context. Benefits to Companies Fractional or interim chief IP, patent, or trademark counsel engagements offer a host of benefits, such as expert insights, leadership acumen, and management guidance, and flexibility, scalability, cost savings, and operational efficiency. A highly effective fractional or interim counsel can help you align your IP efforts more closely with business objectives , identify and capitalize on opportunities, optimize your operations , empower your team , and drive higher outside counsel and vendor performance . Quartal IP Offers Fractional and Interim Support With over 24 years of IP and legal experience, including significant expertise as a chief IP counsel, chief patent counsel, and assistant general counsel, Quartal IP is well-positioned to fulfill your unique fractional or interim needs. Please contact us if you would like to schedule a consultation to explore how we may be able to assist you.

Faced with ever-shrinking budgets and mounting pressure from the C-suite to demonstrate intellectual property (IP) value, many enterprises have jettisoned a once-prevailing global patent strategy: “File anywhere in the world where we or our competitors manufacture or sell products.” Though relatively less expensive, a more selective approach may still incur substantial patent filing, prosecution, and maintenance costs, consuming resources that could be allocated to more impactful IP strategies. In addition, electing to file more selectively than in the past does not necessarily equate to an optimal global patent strategy. Indeed, patent filing and maintenance decisions may remain superficial, driven more by opinions and misconceptions than by rationality. In contrast, a rational strategy considers factors such as claim scope, the competitive landscape, product revenue, and enforceability of patents in jurisdictions of interest. Enterprises that embed more rationality in their global patent strategy are likely to realize a higher return on their IP investment. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

It’s no secret that life in a law firm can be stressful no matter one’s position and seniority. Pressure to bill hours and maximize profits, to retain clients and attract new ones, and to advance or maintain an achieved status in a highly competitive and political environment can have a negative—even toxic—effect on individuals within the firm, and on the firm as a whole. As owners of a law firm, partners acutely feel this pressure, relying in large part on associates to fuel partners’ individual and collective success. Similarly, associates face significant pressure to generate billings and deliver high-quality outputs, placing their futures largely in the hands of partners for whom they work. Thus, partners and associates function in essentially a symbiotic relationship—they need each other to flourish. Partners who apply the below eight principles are likely to foster healthy partner-associate relationships that maximize the benefits to both parties. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

Invention harvesting—sometimes also referred to as invention mining, brainstorming, and ideation, among other terms—is a proactive process that involves: (a) prompting innovators to conceive of new inventions or reveal inventions already conceived but not yet appreciated or articulated; and (b) documenting such inventions so they may be protected via the patenting process. Many companies are aware of the potential benefits of invention harvesting and aspire to begin or expand its use. However, unless they take concrete steps to support and nurture invention harvesting programs, their aspirations may bear limited fruit. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .

Invention harvesting is a framework for prompting innovators to conceive of new inventions or describe inventions already conceived, and documenting such inventions for subsequent protection via the patenting process or, if appropriate, as trade secrets. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and related software tools can be leveraged by companies, universities, law firms, and IP service providers to overcome common impediments to invention harvesting. Adopting and embracing such tools is a powerful additional best practice for achieving success in invention harvesting. To read the full article, please visit IPWatchdog .