Design Thinking for Innovation Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge

I work in the Intellectual Property (IP) Department of a multinational pharmaceutical company. One  of the key challenges for my team is to generate and maintain patents (a type of intellectual  property) that cover inventions on drug technology in multiple countries. My company has been filing  and maintaining patents applications in different geographies of the world for around 15 years, but  the data related to those filings was maintained in an Excel file. Presently, the process is not efficient  as the data is scattered. There is a lag time to get timely information that can enable a business  decision, as my team has to reach out to several stakeholders in different countries to get the  information. Further, the patent review meetings occur every quarter adding to the delay. Currently,  there is no online tool for accessing company’s latest patent information to plan business strategy.

Selection

I selected the Mind Mapping tool to set up a central online repository of the latest patent information  that will help to know global patent portfolio on a particular drug product at any given time to timely  enable business decisions. Once the data has been centralized in an online platform, with the mind- mapping tool it will be easy to review and analyse the large data set to identify the patent filing  patterns in each country. After that it would be easy to define the patenting gaps in a particular field  of technology in that country to offer insights into opportunities to generate further patents for our  company that will block competitors in the market, ultimately increasing our company’s market share  and revenue.

Application

I started the process by interacting with various cross-functional teams like research and  development, business development, marketing and regulatory to understand their specific needs  and the impact patent portfolio would create on augmenting the business case and licensing  opportunities in each of the countries. I went to the whiteboard and listed the departments, then  added sticky notes for each feedback that I received. After that, I could see some common  requirements among the teams and the team-specific requirements.

Patent law and rules for each country are different yet they have some similarities. So next, I  reached out to different patent teams within my company based in America, Europe and Asia to  gather information on region specific patent requirements. I also reached out to external sources  such as law firms specializing in patent prosecution and management, and various in-house  counsels in patent departments of other leading pharmaceutical companies to get information on the  tools widely used in the industry to maintain patent information.

Gathering the information, I proposed the idea of this online tool and the associated benefits to my  teams in America, Europe and Asia. Once I got them on-board with the idea, I involved them in the  process. Based on the information that I had received earlier from cross-functional teams and  external law firms and corporations, I shortlisted five online tools for further evaluation. I arranged for  a demo of these tools with six team members based in each of the three geographies. I asked each  team to provide feedback on the tools in terms of functionality, user friendliness, and cost. With this  data, I again returned to the whiteboard and created a matrix with the five online tools and three  regions (America, Europe, Asia). Next, I placed the feedback received from each of the three teams  in sticky notes in one of the quadrant of the matrix on the whiteboard. At the end of this process, I  had pros and cons of each tool for each region. Now it was easy to identify the pattern in the data. I  narrowed down on a tool based on most number of sticky notes on pros and least number of sticky  notes on cons. The tool was subscribed by my team. Initially, a small set of data for the last five  years was integrated into the system to check its accuracy and verify data. After that over a duration  of three months the entire data was migrated into the new online tool. Once the data was centrally  organized with online accessibility, it was easy to identify the technology gaps in a particular field of  drug development in a country, and then file new patent applications in those countries, thereby  increasing company’s revenue.

Insights and Approach

Applying the mind mapping tool made it easy to analyse large set of data at different levels to  identify the key criteria and then categorize the individual data points into those categories, so that a  pattern emerges from which meaningful insights can be drawn to meet the goal.

Next time, I would use the visualization tool or visual thinking to get an understanding of the common  and differentiating aspects from a diverse set of data points to identify the trends leading to an  effective solution keeping the end goal in mind.


Design Thinking for Innovation Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge I work in the Intellectual Property ( IP ) Department of a multinational pharmaceutical company . One of the key challenges for my team is to generate and maintain patents ( a type of intellectual property ) that cover inventions on drug technology in multiple countries . My company has been filing and maintaining patents applications in different geographies of the world for around 15 years , but the data related to those filings was maintained in an Excel file . Presently , the process is not efficient as the data is scattered . There is a lag time to get timely information that can enable a business decision , as my team has to reach out to several stakeholders in different countries to get the information . Further , the patent review meetings occur every quarter adding to the delay . Currently , there is no online tool for accessing company ’s latest patent information to plan business strategy . Selection I selected the Mind Mapping tool to set up a central online repository of the latest patent information that will help to know global patent portfolio on a particular drug product at any given time to timely enable business decisions . Once the data has been centralized in an online platform , with the mind- mapping tool it will be easy to review and analyse the large data set to identify the patent filing patterns in each country . After that it would be easy to define the patenting gaps in a particular field of technology in that country to offer insights into opportunities to generate further patents for our company that will block competitors in the market , ultimately increasing our company ’s market share and revenue . Application I started the process by interacting with various cross - functional teams like research and development , business development , marketing and regulatory to understand their specific needs and the impact patent portfolio would create on augmenting the business case and licensing opportunities in each of the countries . I went to the whiteboard and listed the departments , then added sticky notes for each feedback that I received . After that , I could see some common requirements among the teams and the team - specific requirements . Patent law and rules for each country are different yet they have some similarities . So next , I reached out to different patent teams within my company based in America , Europe and Asia to gather information on region specific patent requirements . I also reached out to external sources such as law firms specializing in patent prosecution and management , and various in - house counsels in patent departments of other leading pharmaceutical companies to get information on the tools widely used in the industry to maintain patent information . Gathering the information , I proposed the idea of this online tool and the associated benefits to my teams in America , Europe and Asia . Once I got them on - board with the idea , I involved them in the process . Based on the information that I had received earlier from cross - functional teams and external law firms and corporations , I shortlisted five online tools for further evaluation . I arranged for a demo of these tools with six team members based in each of the three geographies . I asked each team to provide feedback on the tools in terms of functionality , user friendliness , and cost . With this data , I again returned to the whiteboard and created a matrix with the five online tools and three regions ( America , Europe , Asia ) . Next , I placed the feedback received from each of the three teams in sticky notes in one of the quadrant of the matrix on the whiteboard . At the end of this process , I had pros and cons of each tool for each region . Now it was easy to identify the pattern in the data . I narrowed down on a tool based on most number of sticky notes on pros and least number of sticky notes on cons . The tool was subscribed by my team . Initially , a small set of data for the last five years was integrated into the system to check its accuracy and verify data . After that over a duration of three months the entire data was migrated into the new online tool . Once the data was centrally organized with online accessibility , it was easy to identify the technology gaps in a particular field of drug development in a country , and then file new patent applications in those countries , thereby increasing company ’s revenue . Insights and Approach Applying the mind mapping tool made it easy to analyse large set of data at different levels to identify the key criteria and then categorize the individual data points into those categories , so that a pattern emerges from which meaningful insights can be drawn to meet the goal . Next time , I would use the visualization tool or visual thinking to get an understanding of the common and differentiating aspects from a diverse set of data points to identify the trends leading to an effective solution keeping the end goal in mind .