Our guests are so generous with their time. They allow us to have terrific conversations about this world of intellectual property, their roles, and strategies for effectively dealing with IP. That’s certainly the case with our featured guest today. Carlo Cotrone wears a lot of hats in the field of intellectual property. As chief IP counsel for Techtronic Industries, he manages innovation for the company’s well-known brands, such as Ryobi, Milwaukee, Hoover, Oreck, and Dirt Devil. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on the importance of strategy and collaboration as enterprises navigate the world of IP.

In this episode, Jeff Harty and Carlo Cotrone discuss:

• What about IP inspires and drives Carlo in his life and career.
• The breadth of IP issues that Carlo deals with as in-house IP counsel.
• Why strategy and collaboration are essential in IP.
• The mindset of collaboration locally and globally.
• Counterfeiting in the world of e-commerce.

Key Takeaways:

• Strategy is about outside-the-box thinking and moving beyond the tactical to find complementary ways that may not come to mind immediately without intentionally taking a different view.
• Knowing the client’s business and looking at IP from a business perspective is an excellent approach for both in-house and outside counsel.
• Collaboration comes down to human-to-human and human-to-group communication and relationships.
• It’s important to find partners with whom you can build relationships and who understand the risk profiles of the company.

“It’s really important to develop meaningful metrics internally, especially those that help hold the IP teams, and the company at large, to a rationality to the investments being made in IP and the result.” —Carlo Cotrone

About Carlo Cotrone:

Carlo Cotrone is chief IP counsel at Techtronic Industries North America (TTI), a world leader in cordless technology spanning power tools, outdoor power equipment, and floor care appliances. He also is adjunct professor of law at University of Houston Law Center. He is a frequent speaker and author on topics such as IP strategy and asset management, legal ethics, collaboration and innovation strategies for law firms and corporate legal departments, and professional development. Previously, Carlo served as senior IP counsel at General Electric and at energy technology company Baker Hughes. He practiced law at firms on the East Coast and in the Midwest, most recently as a partner. He holds two U.S. patents as the inventor of technology directed to digital sheet music.

Connect with Carlo Cotrone:

Website: https://ipwatchdog.com/people/carlo-cotrone-2/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cmcotrone

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlo-cotrone-8266752/

Connect with Jeff Harty:

Website: https://nyemaster.com/attorney-directory/jeffrey-d-harty/

Email: jharty@nyemaster.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-harty-5a9a1643/

In this conversation, Kirk Goodwin, head of global innovation IP at Whirlpool Corporation, shares his insights for ways to drive innovation and get the most out of your IP assets. For most companies, continuing to innovate isn’t just an option. It’s not enough to simply keep pace; you need to stay ahead of the game if you truly want to thrive and be relevant. That’s why driving innovation and maximizing the return on your investments in intellectual property are more important today than ever.

In this episode, Jeff Harty and Kirk Goodwin discuss:

• Driving innovation within an organization.
• Maximizing returns on investments in intellectual property.
• How to know where to innovate.
• Measuring your ROIP (Return on Intellectual Property)—beyond the number of submissions and number of patents.

Key Takeaways:

• Your goal shouldn’t be to simply get patents. Your goal should be to get innovation that you can protect—your intellectual property.
• You grow innovation by protecting intellectual property and then creating additional intellectual property and innovation around the assets you already have.
• We don’t need to incentivize people to innovate, but we do need to communicate where the value can be brought. Innovators want to innovate. Your job is to facilitate that.
• Teach your employees where to be innovative and how to share that innovation.

“IP is not the last step. It is the first step and the second step and the third step and so on. That’s how you continue to grow innovation, by creating those foundations that you protect with intellectual property.” — Kirk Goodwin

About Kirk Goodwin:

Kirk Goodwin is assistant general counsel, Global Innovation IP and Cybersecurity, for Whirlpool Corporation. Previously, Mr. Goodwin served as chief patent counsel, North America, and chief counsel for Global Information Systems for Whirlpool. Mr. Goodwin leads Whirlpool’s team of patent attorneys, agents, and paralegals in various patent functions, including IP clearance, acquisition, technology transactions, and litigation. Prior to joining Whirlpool, Mr. Goodwin was a senior patent attorney for Maytag Corporation, where he led offensive and defensive patent and trade secret litigation.

Connect with Kirk Goodwin:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwgoodwin/

Twitter: @kirk_goodwin https://twitter.com/kirk_goodwin

Connect with Jeff Harty:

Website: https://nyemaster.com/attorney-directory/jeffrey-d-harty/

Email: jharty@nyemaster.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-harty-5a9a1643/