Patent Development and Filing in Brazil: Application of Value Stream Mapping to Optimize the Patent generating Process of a Company

In order to meet their growing needs to remain competitive by constantly introducing innovative products and/or services, companies today face challenges in their administrative process that originally were not designed to handle the significant increase in the flow of information. In the innovation cycle only a structured process is not enough. However, the organization must have agility and efficiency. This paper reports an analysis of the Patent Application Filing Process (PAFP) of the Brazilian subsidiary of a multinational company, which is the world leader in the manufacturing of home appliances that for strategic reasons needs to expand its patent portfolio. This study, supported by the value stream mapping (VSM) tool, aimed to identify opportunities to improve the flow and the quality of information, as well as optimization of human and technological resources to reduce their cycle time. As a result of implementing the proposed actions for eliminating waste identified, approximately 45% reduction in the cycle-time of the patent application filing process has been achieved and thereby increases in the number of patent applications filed without the need for additional human and technological resources.