Shayne Phillips is Director of Analytic Solutions at Anaqua, a global IP software services company headquartered in Boston. She is an expert in IP-related competitive intelligence and technical patent and nonpatent literature searching. She is also a registered U.S. patent agent. Before joining Anaqua, Shayne worked at Haliburton in Houston, Texas, for 16 years, serving as head of IP competitive intelligence and senior IP portfolio manager. During this time, she founded Six Points, LLC, an IP management and research consulting firm.
Shayne holds a B.S. in biology from Youngstown State University, an M.S. in biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati, and an M.B.A. from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. She has been a member of LES for almost 20 years and is active in the Physical Sciences Sector and the Young Member Congress. An Ohio native, Shayne now lives in Colorado.
Q: What are you working on right now at Anaqua?
SP: I specialize in two of the company’s tools—AcclaimIP, a patent search and analytics tool, and AQX, a targeting database that clients use to manage their own portfolios. I work on complex use cases for clients—either running the use case for them or teaching them how to set it up and run it.
I do a lot of taxonomy creation, and I find this really interesting because patents are written very technically and in a way that the text of an individual patent speaks only about the technology to be patented in that particular publication. So, the gap between highly technical, very piecemeal patents and information that will be useful to business managers can make things difficult. An added difficulty is applying the data to an understanding of competitors’ portfolios. So, I spend a lot of time helping clients bridge these gaps.
One of the most exciting things I’m working on is looking at using artificial intelligence (AI) to help with this process, which is very time-consuming and requires facilitation by a company’s technical experts and business managers. This is a very exciting time to be a portfolio manager because of the possibilities offered by AI — it could free up managers and technical experts to do what they are really supposed to be doing—inventing things and managing their companies.
Q: What motivated you to set up your own consulting firm?
SP: When I passed the patent bar in 2009, I had a few things on my professional bucket list. One was to draft and prosecute a patent application on behalf of a client from beginning to end. That was not possible at Halliburton because they use outside counsel. So, I started Six Points to give myself that opportunity.
The second reason has to do with my educational background in biochemistry and biology. I thought I would always work in life sciences. Never in a million years did I think that I would work in oil and gas, but I fell into the job at Haliburton via my job as an application specialist at Chemical Abstracts Service in Columbus, Ohio. Six Points has enabled me to work for life sciences companies and maintain my chemical and life sciences, searching, and client work skills sharp.
Q: How did you get involved with LES?
SP: My involvement with LES was fostered by my first manager at Halliburton, who was very active in the Houston chapter. I started at the local chapter level, attending chapter meetings, and later became involved in chapter leadership, serving as chapter chair, educational chair, and content chair. Then, I moved on to become involved at the national level.
I’m now chair of the LES Physical Sciences industry sector, which includes chemical, energy, environmental, and materials science. It is a broad group that covers several tremendous technical areas. This past year, we conducted a royalty rate survey for Physical Sciences, which was not done in about 11 years. Some of my team members presented report highlights at the LES 2023 Annual Meeting in Chicago (October 2023). The full report will be available around the end of 2023.
Q: Tell us about your work with the LES Young Members Congress
SP: The first annual Young Members Congress (YMC) meeting I attended was in Ottawa, Canada. These meetings are always on a Friday—with content during the day and a really fun and interactive networking event that night. Young professionals like to have fun, and meeting other professionals in their field is extremely important to them. I was asked if I wanted to plan and execute the next YMC meeting in Los Angeles. I had never organized an event like this before, and planning it from Houston was a challenge, but I got a lot of help, and it ended up being a very successful event. Since then, I have held various leadership roles in YMC, including Chair of YMC, USA & Canada. I will be stepping down as chair of YMC at the LES 2023 Annual Meeting.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
SP: I just moved from Houston to Colorado Springs, so I’ve been very busy doing that and selling two houses. Normally, what I like best is spending time with my husband and 11-year-old son and taking our dog for long walks.