Location Matters: a Novel Methodology for Patent’s National Phase Process

The patents which never have marketed are unsuccessful innovations. The patent’s national phases are an indispensable process for the marketing of innovation. In this process, patent owners decide in which countries they want to get protection. Despite being an essential issue that generates significant competitive advantages over competitors and relevant for technology transfer and patent licence, few discussions are on this issue. Indeed, the institutions for which this is a new practice cannot find much literature guiding them. Thus, the paper provides a novel methodology to identify the potential countries for applying. Overall, the proposed methodology uses patent analysis and market research methods to define the value of a technology, and the target countries to perform patent filings as an international technological strategy. This paper analyses a case to illustrate step by step how it is possible to use affordable market and technology data to select the countries in which a patent must be protected. The methodology for patent’s national phases may contribute to (i) define the selection process to establish nations in which patent protection is necessary instead of proposing a set of general recommendations and (ii) how a guide to delineate comparative advantages and market possibilities.