Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, has been named a 2021 Value Champion by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for being a pioneer of optimized legal services. Selected by a panel of peers and past honorees, Nouryon’s Legal Department won the award for innovation in managing its intellectual property (IP) portfolio, while significantly reducing spend.

The ACC awarded Nouryon’s Legal Department with the designation of Value Champion for the transformation of its Intellectual Property group over a two-year period. Nouryon engaged the assistance of the IP firm Lorenz & Kopf, LLP, and together the team reimagined its processes and executed a comprehensive strategy to apply value to the administration of IP services. Ultimately, they fulfilled their goal to reshape Nouryon’s IP portfolio to support its business objectives while maintaining costs.

“We are very proud of our team and the work they put into transforming Nouryon’s IP function,” said Michael Finn, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Nouryon. “I am especially proud of how Nouryon’s strategic IP portfolio was optimized through increased focus on value-driven decision making, resulting in a significantly reduced IP budget while maintaining the strength of the portfolio.”

Additionally, the team created digital tools to analyze the IP portfolio, further enhancing the process by eliminating redundancies and outdated information.

“Achieving ACC’s Value Champion designation was the result of teamwork and thinking outside the box to ensure that Nouryon’s IP function delivers effective results and strong value for our businesses,” said Matt Kellam, Global Director of IP at Nouryon.

Nouryon currently owns more than 2,000 individual patents worldwide, involving nearly 400 patent families.