Invention and Patent – One way of adding value to a product
In an increasingly knowledge‐driven economy, you invariably need creative or inventive ideas or concepts to improve an existing feature, add a useful new feature to your product or develop a totally new product. If your business develops such an idea or concept that solves a technical problem in an unexpectedly new or better way then it should take adequate and timely steps to protect its creative idea, concept or knowledge by converting it into a proprietary technical advantage by patenting it.
More Reference 1‐1: How to invent
Many people seem to think that a flash of inspiration or genius is necessary to spark creativity or inventions or that it invariably involves major scientific discoveries or great research and technological development in big public or corporate R & D laboratories or research‐based universities. Even in the United States of America, till 1930, individual inventors outnumbered every other category in terms of number of patents granted by the US Patent Office. For the first time, in 1931, U.S. corporations received more patents than U.S. individual inventors did and their lead has kept widening ever since.
It must be noted that most of the patented inventions are not major breakthroughs but incremental though non‐obvious technical improvements over the relevant prior art. Also, some famous inventions represented only a modest advance in fundamental technology and were made by ordinary people or individual inventors. In fact, some famous inventions were based on a chance discovery, insight or a mere accident that produced unexpected results that were not only noticed by a prepared mind but also put to a practical business use by the same or another person.
For example, in the 1940’s, on returning home after walking his dog in the mountains, Swiss inventor George de Mestral noticed that his dog and his pants were covered with seeds called ‘burrs’. On taking a closer look at the seeds under the microscope, he recognized the potential for a new fastener based on the natural hook‐like shapes on the surface of burrs. Initially, his idea was met with resistance. But he persisted in refining his invention by trial and error over eight years. He finally realized that nylon when sewn under infrared light formed tough hooks for the burr side of the fastener. He perfected his invention while working along with a weaver from a textile plant in France and patented it in 1955. Eventually, he had developed two strips of nylon fabric, one containing thousands of small hooks, just like the burrs, and the other with soft loops, just like the fabric of his pants. When the two strips were pressed together, they formed a strong bond, but one that's easily separated, lightweight, durable, and washable. This is how Velcro was born. The inventor went on to establish Velcro Industries to manufacture products that were based on his patented invention.
More Reference 1‐2: Improving functionality of a product
1. Definition of functionality
'Functionality,' that is, technical functionality, may also be described as a useful feature or a performance attribute of an invention, technology or product.
Such a feature may be in a new or improved material, machine, apparatus, testing or measuring equipment, component of a product, product, or a method or process for making any of these. It could also be a new use of an existing material or a new combination of prior known but separate features that produce an unexpected new result.
So, broadly speaking, technical functionality of a product refers to its ability to perform a utilitarian process, task or activity. For example, it may provide greater comfort in use, be easier to digest, safer to use, or superior to other products in terms of ease of disposal, maintenance, repair, storage, transport or use.
2. Inventions made by improving functionality of a product
Any one or more of such type of functional characteristics may differentiate one product from another.
For improving or creating these types of functional features you would generally need one or more new or improved inventions which may be incorporated into one or more new or improved technologies.
Reference 1‐3: Sources of inventions
1. From in‐house R&D facilities
If your business has some in‐house research and development (R & D) capability, then it would be creating new or improved technology or adapting existing technology to meet your emerging needs.
2. From the marketing and sales side
Even if your business has no formal R & D facilities, yet some of your employees on the shop floor may be inventing, often without realizing it, while copying competing products or when required making adaptations to your existing products for a variety of reasons. Inventive ideas may come from any part of the company. A particularly good place to find inventions is on the marketing and sales side, who is in touch with the market trends and emerging needs of customers, and may come up with technical solutions to such needs.
3. From outside of the company
However, even when you have in‐house R & D capability, there are many situations in which you may have to look for inventions or technology from outside your company.
a. Free source
Sometimes, you may get it free, for example, from the numerous, free, and easily available online patent databases, which include a lot of technologies that were either not protected at all in your market or by now their patent protection has lapsed or expired. As the information contained in a patent is free for anyone to use, both directly and indirectly, depending on the patent's legal status, therefore, you must always try this route, before developing it in‐house and before looking around to buy it from outside.
Most patent savvy businesses skillfully use patent databases, for example, to identify opportunities for adapting or acquiring patented inventions, or technologies. Also, mining a patent database may provide you with a solid basis for developing new ideas and concepts. However, the availability of useful information in patent databases depends on the nature of your business or industry, as some areas of technology have much more patent activity than others.
b. Licensing
But really useful new or improved technology is generally not available free of charge. In order to get useful inventions, you may have to buy or license it from others that are willing to do so on mutually acceptable terms and conditions.
More Reference 1‐4: Identifying inventions
In order to get a Patent, first, you have to identify an invention. If you are an inventor‐entrepreneur then it may be easier for you to identify an invention than if it were made by one or more of your employees in R & D or by a shop floor worker who is responsible for making improvements or adaptations to some machine or process in your manufacturing facility or by someone in the marketing department of your business. In fact, you may be surprised to know that not all inventions of great business merit result from expensive R & D that relies on high‐tech equipment and considerable expense of time, knowledge, skill and other resources. Often, technicians and other shop floor workers, and sometimes even your staff responsible for marketing may make significant contributions to development of an invention to satisfy an identified market need. In other words, anyone in your own business or vendors, suppliers, and other business partners may come up with new ideas and concepts and help you to reduce it to practice.
For further information, please follow the next contents, explore the world of intellectual property and chances that intellectual property may bring to your enterprise.
