NetApp launched an industry when it was founded two decades ago, creating the first storage operating system. Since then, its competitors have multiplied, but so too have its innovations. The Sunnyvale company now produces a range of systems and software aimed at retaining, managing and protecting data. Listed on the Fortune 500, NetApp booked $6.3 billion in revenue in 2012.
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Doug Luftman, NetApp’s vice president of innovation services and chief intellectual property counsel, marked his one-year anniversary with the company this month. NetApp already had a robust IP strategy when he joined. Last year, NetApp was named to the list of the top 300 organizations granted U.S. patents in 2012 by Intellectual Property Owners Association, and for the last several years, it’s been awarded best “Quality over Quantity” patent portfolio in its industry by IEEE Spectrum. The company has nearly 2,000 patent assets worldwide, Luftman estimates.
