IP Law Bulletin

Working remotely presents challenges to engineering teams, but also opportunities, so we propose not a curse, but a blessing: May you all flourish in these challenging times.

We can flourish by staying connected with our teams on both a personal level and a professional level. A number of applications (e.g., Skype; GoToMeeting; Zoom) allow people to connect, socialize, and work collaboratively.

Of particular interest to engineering teams are whiteboard applications that allow distributed teams to work as they would when gathered around a physical whiteboard in the office. As collaboration tools, whiteboard applications allow teams to brainstorm solutions, draw concepts, and reinforce a sense of community with co-workers, just as with conventional whiteboards, but over the Internet from a variety of platforms.

Although we cannot endorse any specific whiteboard offering, we note that Microsoft’s aptly-named Whiteboard is widely available, and according to Microsoft allows a team to collaborate on a “virtual canvas” from around the globe using Microsoft and iOS platforms. Microsoft reports that Whiteboard is available through your Microsoft account, and is also provided to organizational Office 365 tenants (but may need to be enabled by your IT administrator). If you prefer a browser-based whiteboard, there are several available, such as the (also aptly-named) Witeboard, and WhiteboardFox. Bear in mind that each of the foregoing applications stores your work in the cloud, and subject to the providers’ respective privacy policies, so exercise your discretion about what you put there.

Working remotely may also provide an opportunity for teams to capture previously unrecognized inventions. For example, it may allow team members to reflect on recent work and identify innovations that should be recognized and potentially protected. To paraphrase Senator Kennedy, your team and its members may be judged on the extent to which its ideas have contributed – and continue in these times to contribute - to the business. Your team may have more inventions that you recognize, and each unrecognized invention is a missed opportunity.

Fortunately, capturing unrecognized inventions is easy and efficient, even in a remote working environment. An invention is simply a solution to a problem, so why not ask your team members – individually and/or collectively - to make a list of problems they have overcome, and briefly describe the solution for each? Inventions are the input to any patent program, so identifying your inventions gives you more choices for strengthening your patent portfolio and making efficient use of your patent budget. Identifying inventions also provides an objective metric of sustained team productivity, even while working remotely.

Even better, why not gather your team around a digital whiteboard to discuss those problems and solutions, or even to brainstorm around the challenges faced by – and to be solved by – your present projects?

Such a session promises to maintain and strengthen the bond among your engineering community, and might just uncover valuable corporate assets in the process.

May you all flourish in these interesting times!