Your 2026 IP Readiness Checklist: What Leaders Should Do in the New Year
By David Jackrel, MLO Patent Agent
01/21/2026
As we enter a new year, leaders often find themselves sighing with relief after pushing to meet year-end goals, finalizing roadmaps, and attending the occasional holiday party. Amid the chaos, one critical task can slip through the cracks: intellectual property readiness. Now that the calendar has flipped to 2026, it’s worth asking—are you prepared to protect what you and your team have built?
The first step is to take stock of your accomplishments. This isn’t about creating a glossy review for the company newsletter; it’s about ensuring that every semiconductor device design, every new product design, every feature, architecture, and algorithm developed over the past twelve months is accounted for. Think of it as an invention inventory—what shipped, what’s still in beta, and what quietly revolutionized your back end without anyone outside the team noticing. A thorough audit now will save you from scrambling later when questions of ownership, protection, and the like arise.
Once you have the list, the real triage begins. Not every innovation deserves a patent. Some ideas are best safeguarded as trade secrets, powering your competitive edge behind the scenes. Others may simply warrant clear documentation for internal continuity. The guiding questions are simple:
Is it new (including a new combination of known features)?
Is it incorporated in a product?
Will competitors find it useful?
Does this give you an advantage in the market?
Can it be detected in your products?
Do you believe that broad protection is available?
If the answers to some or all of these are yes, it belongs on your IP priority list.
Finally, January is prime time for action. Schedule an invention harvesting session with your innovators and product leads to surface hidden gems. Align your roadmap with your IP strategy to capture and protect innovations as they are developed, and carve out a budget for patent applications and trade secret protocols.
In short, IP readiness isn’t just a legal checkbox; it’s a strategic move that can define your company’s trajectory in 2026.
Need assistance? Reach out to MLO to explore the benefits of a patent training and invention brainstorming session.