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Ian MacLean

Senior IP Fellow, TechInsights (retired)

Ian MacLean is the Senior IP Fellow at TechInsights. Ian brings over 20 years of executive experience in sales, marketing, and business development across a number of high technology companies. He has held a variety of progressively senior roles over the last decade, most notably in the areas of sales and business development. Prior to joining TechInsights, Mr. MacLean worked at FCI/TracNet, G&A Imaging, and Corel Corporation where he oversaw all aspects of sales and marketing, successfully raised millions in venture capital and introduced new products and services while establishing international distribution channels. Ian holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Recent Articles by Ian MacLean

Balancing Patent Quality and Patent Quantity to Maximize ROI

Typically in our experience only about 3% to 5% of a patent portfolio consists of “star patents.” These are the patents that are demonstrably valuable because they claim technology that is commercially useful today or in a very near future market. Finding this small percentage of good patents is the name of the game. That’s why until very recently the prevailing strategy for many companies was “the more the merrier” with a strategy that focused more on quantity. Companies filed as many applications as they could, fueled by the belief that they would ultimately hit pay dirt with a percentage of the resulting patents generating value.