Design   Thinking   for   Innovation   Reflection   –   Mind   Mapping 

 Challenge 

 I work in the Intellectual Property ( IP ) Department of a multinational pharmaceutical company . One   of the key challenges for my team is to generate and maintain patents ( a type of intellectual   property ) that cover inventions on drug technology in multiple countries . My company has been filing   and maintaining patents applications in different geographies of the world for around 15 years , but   the data related to those filings was maintained in an Excel file . Presently , the process is not efficient   as the data is scattered . There is a lag time to get timely information that can enable a business   decision , as my team has to reach out to several stakeholders in different countries to get the   information . Further , the patent review meetings occur every quarter adding to the delay . Currently ,   there is no online tool for accessing company ’s latest patent information to plan business strategy . 

 Selection 

 I selected the Mind Mapping tool to set up a central online repository of the latest patent information   that will help to know global patent portfolio on a particular drug product at any given time to timely   enable business decisions . Once the data has been centralized in an online platform , with the mind- mapping tool it will be easy to review and analyse the large data set to identify the patent filing   patterns in each country . After that it would be easy to define the patenting gaps in a particular field   of technology in that country to offer insights into opportunities to generate further patents for our   company that will block competitors in the market , ultimately increasing our company ’s market share   and revenue . 

 Application 

 I started the process by interacting with various cross - functional teams like research and   development , business development , marketing and regulatory to understand their specific needs   and the impact patent portfolio would create on augmenting the business case and licensing   opportunities in each of the countries . I went to the whiteboard and listed the departments , then   added sticky notes for each feedback that I received . After that , I could see some common   requirements among the teams and the team - specific requirements . 

 Patent law and rules for each country are different yet they have some similarities . So next , I   reached out to different patent teams within my company based in America , Europe and Asia to   gather information on region specific patent requirements . I also reached out to external sources   such as law firms specializing in patent prosecution and management , and various in - house   counsels in patent departments of other leading pharmaceutical companies to get information on the   tools widely used in the industry to maintain patent information . 

 Gathering the information , I proposed the idea of this online tool and the associated benefits to my   teams in America , Europe and Asia . Once I got them on - board with the idea , I involved them in the   process . Based on the information that I had received earlier from cross - functional teams and   external law firms and corporations , I shortlisted five online tools for further evaluation . I arranged for   a demo of these tools with six team members based in each of the three geographies . I asked each   team to provide feedback on the tools in terms of functionality , user friendliness , and cost . With this   data , I again returned to the whiteboard and created a matrix with the five online tools and three   regions ( America , Europe , Asia ) . Next , I placed the feedback received from each of the three teams   in sticky notes in one of the quadrant of the matrix on the whiteboard . At the end of this process , I   had pros and cons of each tool for each region . Now it was easy to identify the pattern in the data . I   narrowed down on a tool based on most number of sticky notes on pros and least number of sticky   notes on cons . The tool was subscribed by my team . Initially , a small set of data for the last five   years was integrated into the system to check its accuracy and verify data . After that over a duration   of three months the entire data was migrated into the new online tool . Once the data was centrally   organized with online accessibility , it was easy to identify the technology gaps in a particular field of   drug development in a country , and then file new patent applications in those countries , thereby   increasing company ’s revenue . 

 Insights and Approach 

 Applying the mind mapping tool made it easy to analyse large set of data at different levels to   identify the key criteria and then categorize the individual data points into those categories , so that a   pattern emerges from which meaningful insights can be drawn to meet the goal . 

 Next time , I would use the visualization tool or visual thinking to get an understanding of the common   and differentiating aspects from a diverse set of data points to identify the trends leading to an   effective solution keeping the end goal in mind . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Design   Thinking   for   Innovation   Reflection   –   Mind   Mapping 

 Challenge 

 I work in the Intellectual Property ( IP ) Department of a multinational pharmaceutical company . One   of the key challenges for my team is to generate and maintain patents ( a type of intellectual   property ) that cover inventions on drug technology in multiple countries . My company has been filing   and maintaining patents applications in different geographies of the world for around 15 years , but   the data related to those filings was maintained in an Excel file . Presently , the process is not efficient   as the data is scattered . There is a lag time to get timely information that can enable a business   decision , as my team has to reach out to several stakeholders in different countries to get the   information . Further , the patent review meetings occur every quarter adding to the delay . Currently ,   there is no online tool for accessing company ’s latest patent information to plan business strategy . 

 Selection 

 I selected the Mind Mapping tool to set up a central online repository of the latest patent information   that will help to know global patent portfolio on a particular drug product at any given time to timely   enable business decisions . Once the data has been centralized in an online platform , with the mind- mapping tool it will be easy to review and analyse the large data set to identify the patent filing   patterns in each country . After that it would be easy to define the patenting gaps in a particular field   of technology in that country to offer insights into opportunities to generate further patents for our   company that will block competitors in the market , ultimately increasing our company ’s market share   and revenue . 

 Application 

 I started the process by interacting with various cross - functional teams like research and   development , business development , marketing and regulatory to understand their specific needs   and the impact patent portfolio would create on augmenting the business case and licensing   opportunities in each of the countries . I went to the whiteboard and listed the departments , then   added sticky notes for each feedback that I received . After that , I could see some common   requirements among the teams and the team - specific requirements . 

 Patent law and rules for each country are different yet they have some similarities . So next , I   reached out to different patent teams within my company based in America , Europe and Asia to   gather information on region specific patent requirements . I also reached out to external sources   such as law firms specializing in patent prosecution and management , and various in - house   counsels in patent departments of other leading pharmaceutical companies to get information on the   tools widely used in the industry to maintain patent information . 

 Gathering the information , I proposed the idea of this online tool and the associated benefits to my   teams in America , Europe and Asia . Once I got them on - board with the idea , I involved them in the   process . Based on the information that I had received earlier from cross - functional teams and   external law firms and corporations , I shortlisted five online tools for further evaluation . I arranged for   a demo of these tools with six team members based in each of the three geographies . I asked each   team to provide feedback on the tools in terms of functionality , user friendliness , and cost . With this   data , I again returned to the whiteboard and created a matrix with the five online tools and three   regions ( America , Europe , Asia ) . Next , I placed the feedback received from each of the three teams   in sticky notes in one of the quadrant of the matrix on the whiteboard . At the end of this process , I   had pros and cons of each tool for each region . Now it was easy to identify the pattern in the data . I   narrowed down on a tool based on most number of sticky notes on pros and least number of sticky   notes on cons . The tool was subscribed by my team . Initially , a small set of data for the last five   years was integrated into the system to check its accuracy and verify data . After that over a duration   of three months the entire data was migrated into the new online tool . Once the data was centrally   organized with online accessibility , it was easy to identify the technology gaps in a particular field of   drug development in a country , and then file new patent applications in those countries , thereby   increasing company ’s revenue . 

 Insights and Approach 

 Applying the mind mapping tool made it easy to analyse large set of data at different levels to   identify the key criteria and then categorize the individual data points into those categories , so that a   pattern emerges from which meaningful insights can be drawn to meet the goal . 

 Next time , I would use the visualization tool or visual thinking to get an understanding of the common   and differentiating aspects from a diverse set of data points to identify the trends leading to an   effective solution keeping the end goal in mind .
### Output: 