As a patent lawyer, I have been involved with many product launches. For example, when I worked with a large laptop manufacturer, new products are launched on a quarterly bases. We would be involved with the marketing team and engineering team in planning the launch. We would identify new product features that are worthy of patenting, and if there are IP concerns, we would work on these issues to expedite the launch.

An IP Based Product Launch is a special launch used when your competitive space is busy with many patents. A product launch plan template is an important tool in the process of launching a new product. It can be very helpful when it comes to evaluating whether the product launch went well or not. The main components of a product plan template are listed below:

What is product launch planning?

A product launch plan should include a backstory about your product and an extensive list of activities that will occur during the launch. This document will include everything from the engineering team’s build to UX/UI design and user testing. It will also cover any regulatory requirements and certifications for your new product. Your product launch plan should also include a milestone plan for your team to meet.

A product launch plan template should focus on the upcoming launch and detail high-level goals for each group. Detailed checklists are necessary to keep track of dependencies and organize tasks for each group. Using a launch checklist is a great way to keep track of all the tasks involved in a launch, and it’s a great indicator of your readiness for launch. You can find a free product launch checklist template online or in print, for example, the plan below from Hubspot. However, this launch plan forgot an important component that can derail the Go-To-Market (GTM) plan.

When launching a new product, it is important to consider intellectual property (IP) issues in order to protect the product and your business. Some key IP considerations include:

It’s important to consult with an IP attorney to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to protect your product and your business.

  • Conducting a patent search to ensure that the product does not infringe on any existing patents.
  • Filing for a patent on the product or its key features to prevent others from making, using, or selling the product without permission.
  • Trademark registration for any logos, names, or other branding associated with the product to prevent others from using similar branding for competing products.
  • Copyright registration for any software, literature, or other creative works associated with the product to prevent others from reproducing or distributing the work without permission.
  • Conducting a freedom to operate analysis, which assesses whether your product may infringe on any patents or other IP rights held by others.
  • Reviewing any licenses or agreements that may be required for the use of third-party IP in the product.
  • Reviewing employee and contractor agreements to ensure that any IP created during the course of their work will be assigned to the company.

Determine your ICP

The first step in new product planning is to determine the ideal customer profile (ICP).  The ICP is a hypothetical description of the type of company that would benefit the most from your product. These companies have the fastest, most profitable sales cycles, highest customer retention rates, and the highest number of evangelists.

Firmographics can be used to define the ideal customer profile.

  • The average company size/revenue
  • The ideal industry/industries
  • What do they need?  Where do they buy it?  Why do they need your proposed product?
  • And so on. You may also want to add other data points depending on the product, service, or brand you are selling to help you find the right market segments.

Buyer personas represent hypothetical descriptions of people who are involved in purchasing decisions. The firmographics for your ideal customer profile will likely inform the buyer personas. However, personas should be defined by demographics like job title, function, seniority, income, and role. You must understand each person’s pain points and problems and then show how your product or services solves them.

Size Up the Competition

The competitive analysis involves studying major competitors in order to gain insights into their products, sales, marketing strategies, and other factors. A competitive market analysis can help you to develop stronger business strategies, protect your market, and capture market share.

An analysis of your competitors can reveal the details and help you identify opportunities to outperform them.

Competitive analysis will help you identify your product’s unique value proposition and what makes it different from other products. It can also be used to inform your future marketing efforts.

This allows you to see what your competitors are doing right. This information is crucial for keeping your product relevant and ensuring that your marketing campaigns outperform industry standards.

This analysis will show you the areas where your competitors are failing — it will help you to identify opportunities in the market and allow you to test new marketing strategies that they haven’t tried.

You may want to look at customer reviews to see what is missing from a competitor’s product and think about how you can add those features to your product.  Nuggets of product features can be gleaned from this analysis.

Competitive market research is about comparing key market metrics to help you identify the differences between your products or services and your competitors. A thorough market analysis is essential to establish the foundation of a sales and marketing strategy that will help your company stand out.  This can establish your Go-To-Market strategic beachhead, and patents/trademarks can be used to protect your GTM beachhead.

While you should do at least the TAM/SAM analysis, you need to do more! You need to understand the problem or the opportunity to fully appreciate it.  You should understand the problem your product solves. Do your research thoroughly and get to know the people who will buy, use, and experience your product. All three must be known. The purchaser/user/experience contact may be the same person for a consumer product.  You should also understand how your product will be used within. Are you putting it in the hospital, the ER, or at home? Different environments have different standards.

An effective product launch planning process involves working with multiple teams to develop a product that meets customer expectations. Collaboration among teams and departments ensures that the customer experience is frictionless. Several meetings and reviews of previous launches help you create more effective collaboration and improve expectations for your product launch. This process should be collaborative and should involve cross-functional teams and departments. Your checklist should also address all of the phases associated with the launch.

Formulate Your Product Strategy

Next, you should formulate your design/product strategy.  Apple and Tesla are two of the most popular and well-known brands that use a design strategy.  The success of Apple and Tesla products is no accident. Both these companies have a clear strategic vision and a solid design strategy for their products. Good product design strategies will:

  • Define before the creation of the product
  • Provide insight on what will make your product a success
  • Guide you to understand the design process.

So how do you formulate a design strategy for your next product? Three key steps are required to create a successful product design strategy.

  • Understanding the problem and the potential solution.
  • Defining your product features as well as the look and feel of the design.
  • Protecting your project with IP

1. Understanding the problem and the potential solution

It’s clear that you have an idea for a product, but don’t know where or how to begin. The first thing you need to do is understand the reasons why someone might want your product.

  • Are you able to offer a solution for a problem that isn’t being addressed right now?
  • Is your product better than the rest?
  • Is your product going to have features no one else has?
  • Does your product provide a lower-cost solution?

2. Define your product

What is the most important thing about your product? When defining your product’s features, three key characteristics will make it a success.

Functional. It must work correctly to solve a problem above and beyond existing solutions.

Usable. Friendly, Intuitive, and Easy to use.

Desirable. Superior to other solutions in cost, performance, aesthetics, and interaction.

3. IP Protection

Many software companies ignore IP protection at their peril.  For example, the Verge reported that

  • Defunct photo app Phhhoto is suing Meta, formerly Facebook, on antitrust grounds, claiming the social media platform feigned interest in working with it, but then copied its features and hid its name from search results, effectively driving it out of business.
  • Phhhoto’s technology allowed users to capture five frames “in a single point-and-shoot burst,” which could be looped into a short video (a phhhoto) to be shared either on its platform or Instagram. Sound familiar? That’s because, according to Phhhoto, Facebook copied Phhhoto’s main feature and released it on its Instagram platform as Boomerang in 2015, after blocking Phhhoto from Instagram’s API and from being pre-populated in Instagram posts.
  • “The actions of Facebook and Instagram destroyed Phhhoto as a viable business and ruined the company’s prospects for investment,” Phhhoto says in a complaint filed in US District Court on Thursday. “Phhhoto failed as a direct result of Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct. But for Facebook’s conduct, Phhhoto was positioned to grow into a social networking giant, similar in size, scope, and shareholder value to other social networking and media companies with which Facebook did not interfere.”

To avoid this fate, you should protect your brands with trademarks and your product designs with utility and design patent applications.

Components of an IP product launch plan

A product launch checklist should be organized by types of work needed, such as engineering, go-to-market, systems, sales, and customer support. Each section should be broken down into specific tasks. The product launch checklist is a way to organize and track dependencies and can be used as a tool to gauge if the company is ready for launch. In addition, the checklist should be tailored to the company and its specific goals.

In addition to helping to plan for unexpected issues, a product launch checklist can help to develop teamwork within a business. It can also break large responsibilities down into manageable tasks, making it easier to allocate responsibilities among a group. The checklist also helps in evaluating the product launch and its success. The following sections will provide a product launch checklist for IP. Once complete, it will act as a guide for your team and your company.

Once completed, the product launch plan template should provide clarity to all stakeholders. It should outline the goals of the product launch and help cross-functional teams understand the complexities of launching a new product. The checklist should cover activities across all business departments, from engineering to marketing to customer support. It should also include information such as QA testing, billing options, and training customer support staff. Some product managers create their product launch plan templates in spreadsheets. Others prefer to use purpose-built roadmap software for this task.

If you’re preparing for a product launch, using a legal checklist for a product launch plan template can be beneficial. These templates include general guidance on key business and legal issues related to product development and launch, including trademarks and IP rights. They cover key issues, including naming, labeling, advertising and marketing, disclosure obligations for public companies, supply chain issues, and more. A legal checklist is essential to protect your business and ensure the success of your product.

Concept/Initial Stage

Own the IP: Any intellectual property that was created by consultants and employees needs to be assigned to the company by written agreement.

Avoid Infringement If you are aware of third-party intellectual property rights in the implementation of your new business idea, call your patent attorney as you can do a proper design around or get a license if not. Even if you are not aware of any third party rights, you may want to perform “freedom-to-operate” reviews of relevant patents

Check on your proposed branding/trademarks with a clearance search;

If necessary, obtain third-party IP licenses

Keep track: Product innovation is quick-moving and agile and it is important to keep track of what you have in your asset as well as who created it.

Keep control of your ideas. Sometimes, the “first to market” advantage is vital. Keep your plans and information confidential – make sure you understand the laws regarding trade secrets and use confidentiality agreements and NDAs.

Consider your IP Strategy

IP as an Asset. How can you create and build IP to support your business goals? Take into account your priorities and budget to determine what IP rights will bring you additional value.

What rights are available for your business? Take the time to fully understand your options so you can make informed decisions about IP rights creation. Do you desire product exclusivity or a “springboard” period before other competitors enter the market? Are branding and marketing important?

Think about your audience. Are you looking to focus on specific markets or expand to other territories and markets? IP rights are territorial. When developing your strategy, you should consider the location of your customers and value chains.

Protecting your IP and Assuring Ownership of IP Rights in the New Product

Protecting your IP and Assuring Ownership of IP Rights in the New Product. Conduct a Product IP Audit: Look at the core features of your product in order to determine the best protection. You should consider what registrations you need. You should also consider less obvious IP rights like domain names, social media handles, and design rights for product labeling or packaging.

Protect rights from third parties prior to they start work: All consultants and/or independent contractors must sign agreements that clearly state their obligation to either assign IP created for them to your company or grant appropriate licenses.

Be vigilant: Watch out for and report police infringing behavior by others following the launch of a new product or service. A business-friendly IP enforcement strategy is essential.

Make sure your employees know their roles. Help employees to respect, preserve and protect your IP. Implement policies that promote value creation, IP protection, and enforcement at work. To reduce IP loss and infringement risk, consider training.

The Importance Of Written Agreements

Create Core Contracts: If you build a business with IP, you will need third-party relationships. You should create a list of appropriate core business contracts for your business. These should be reviewed regularly.

IP Creation You don’t own it if you pay for the item. To protect your IP ownership, you must have the appropriate written agreements with those who create your products or services.

The Small Print: All new businesses will make use of existing tools and services, and collaborate with other companies. It is crucial to fully understand the documents that you use in building your relationships, as well as any revenue-generating or distribution channels.

Udr a product launch Checklist

As detailed above, product launches require coordination among moving pieces.  Such complexity can be distilled into a product plan launch template with everything necessary for a successful launch. Product managers should be in charge of the entire operation, including the product plan launch and IP checklist. This way, they will be able to coordinate their teams and track task dependencies. They also will have an overview of the entire product development lifecycle. Considerations for a product plan launch template should include the IP checklist, marketing plan, positioning, messaging, and post-launch development. Product managers can use this checklist to ensure that their team members are aware of every step of the process, and there is little chance that they will miss anything. A product plan launch template can be organized by function, activity, or chronology.

Creating a checklist can be an invaluable tool for a business. A checklist can help ensure that all the important steps are completed from everyday processes to major events such as product launches. Without a checklist, a product launch could end in disaster. The checklist will help you to prevent any problems that may arise during the launch process. This will keep your IP and your business protected. If your product plan launch template is not up-to-date, it will be difficult to make any necessary changes.

An important aspect of a product plan launch template is its ability to help teams organize and prioritize their tasks. It will keep teams on task and reduce confusion when a launch day comes. It should be organized according to the types of work each team group needs to complete. The next step is creating the product plan launch template, which should outline high-level goals, tactical work, and dependencies. It will help the team organize the various activities and keep track of dependencies. The product plan launch template should indicate whether or not the product is ready for launch.