Jeffrey S Whittle

You have significant experience when it comes to IP portfolio analysis. In your view, what are the advantages and the risks of using AI when it comes to assessing the content and value of patent portfolios?

AI is in its infancy. While it will continue to improve drastically over time, it has fallacies. Its knowledge base is limited, and it still needs significant human oversight. Currently, from what I have seen, it does not come close to replacing human judgement in complex and strategic areas, such as IP portfolio analysis.

However, it can be used advantageously for work that is not external facing or publicly accessed (eg, internal AI tools). It can help save time and streamline dataset analysis, and it can speed up searching and preliminary analysis work. But even then, human oversight is extremely helpful for checking for inaccurate and incomplete data, biases and the like.

What has been your proudest professional achievement to date?

I like to give back to the profession as much as reasonably possible – and as time permits. Being awarded the LES Frank Barnes Award for Mentorship is one of my proudest achievements, as I was recognised by peers for my service as a strong mentor for other licensing executives. Additionally, being in a financial position that enabled my wife and I to create a small law school scholarship to give students the opportunity to fund part of their education has been quite special as well – especially having the opportunity to meet and interact with scholarship recipients.

You have co-authored work on the FTC’s new rule on non-compete agreements. How will this change impact IP strategy in the United States – particularly when it comes to trade secrets – and what advice would you give to companies to help them adapt?

I also co-authored a follow-up article to update the community on this matter. The FTC’s new rule has been blocked by US courts so far and will continue to be blocked for some time, especially in view of the recent Supreme Court case paring back what’s known as the ‘Chevron deference’ for executive-branch agencies.

My advice to companies in general is to continue to carefully identify trade secrets and treat this information as highly confidential; this includes using confidentiality agreements for individuals and third parties that have – or potentially will have – access to the trade secrets. Courts will respect these types of procedures and strategies for decades to come.

What are the most pressing challenges facing your clients right now, and how are you helping them to overcome these?

The biggest current challenges are global geopolitical changes, as these increase the risk for new or additional investment within and outside of the United States. I counsel clients to plan for these changes – to almost expect them – and the risks involved.

It is crucial to adapt your IP and technology strategies to position your company for these events when they occur, as many of them will. Being proactive in this strategic planning, managing the risk and seizing opportunities leads to more company success.

How do you ensure that clients receive a top-quality service while ensuring that all staff fulfil their potential?

First and foremost, I value our team’s work and think highly of their input. I always want to provide pathways and vehicles for staff to achieve their full potential through good communication, training, guidance, coaching and mentorship and rewards for valuable service. Much of this is relational, meaning that I need to get to know them and spend time with them. It is helpful to be able to identify their talents and skills and how to help them build on those.

Each person is different and yet highly valued. I cannot lose sight of this. It is also important to understand how they fit into a team structure to service clients in a top-quality manner. Different talents are required in different areas of service. Affirming their contributions as team members is vital, as well as rewarding performance at many levels.

Throughout this oversight, it is essential that all team members can see a picture or vision of clients’ overall needs and goals. We are here to serve them and to help them succeed. When clients succeed, the team should be informed of this and thanked for helping the clients achieve their goals. As perhaps is evident, good communication overarches all of this.