Helping businesses look before they leap. - TM
Surely you have heard of Inky the Octopus? A captive guest at the National Aquarium of New Zealand, Inky became a celebrity by making a daring jailbreak from his watery confinement. About the size of a football, Inky took advantage of a slight opening of the lid at the top of his tank one night several months ago. How long had he dreamed and plotted for such an opportunity?
Failing to recognize innovation and the opportunity it can bring is a major reason some businesses never launch. Plus, the inability to recognize innovation when it’s staring us in the face may also imply that we won’t be able to recognize failure points along its lifespan. Spotting potentially lucrative and game changing innovation can be difficult even when we hear about it or see it in person. Often the inventors themselves don’t always recognize the opportunities that might result from their ideas.
It is important for every entrepreneur, investor and yes — inventor — to take one step back and look impartially at the risk factors associated with today’s great new idea before moving forward. And, once started, paying attention to challenges and negative feedback can make or break a project’s success. One of the most tragic recent examples occurred in Flint, Michigan, where its water supply is contaminated with lead, believed to be harming children’s developing brains and nervous systems.
As it turns out the U.S. Patent Office has been looking out for us Earthlings by flagging “interesting” (substitute “suspicious” if you prefer) patent applications for some time. These applications are flagged because they appear to be dubious but it is possible that some are beyond humankind’s scientific knowledge. Perpetual motion machines commonly fall in this category. Applications claim to obtain energy without a prime mover (such as from a combustion engine) and use magnets or gravity or other sources. On the other hand, disrupting our current methods for producing energy is not a new idea and it would be incredibly lucrative.
2015 was a busy year at PSG and for our clients as well. I dropped in on technical conferences and workshops ranging from food innovations, Medium Voltage Motors, to the Chicago Toy Fair. I was also invited to speak to entrepreneurs at PeopleFund and Startup Law Austin. Plus, I added two new consultants to complement our business strategy services (details below). But, by far the most rewarding part of 2015 was seeing our clients use our research to move their businesses forward…before they invested large amounts of resources.
I’ve noticed a recent trend that is worth consideration for some new ideas: Copyrights seem to be moving into the money-making spotlight. At the same time, there is less talk of patents as financial security.
With the help of some casual market research and my brand of Patent Analytics, I can paint a broad picture of patent activities around different toy families (dolls, trucks, music and the like) that may show up on a Christmas list for Santa soon.
Mood rings were groovy, “Jaws” was playing at the movies and the Vietnam War was ending. It was 1975 and a new television show called Wheel of Fortune debuted its first spin. That wheel is still spinning and being stuck in 1975 must work for Pat and Vanna since they are still solving those puzzles and recording new shows today. Are you stuck in 1975, too? When you value your company, how much do you think your Intellectual Property is worth? When I talk to inventors, entrepreneurs and others, they often cite 15 or 20 percent, roughly the same as in 1975! And I was under the same mistaken impression until I read a new report.
Can something be simultaneously alive and dead? This is the question posed in the famous thought experiment conducted by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. This same debate might also be applied to the many inventors, attorneys and companies involved in deciding when a novel idea is really (substitute “effectively” if you wish) confirmed as being novel. Why should I care? I’ve noticed that many people consider their idea to be “patented” as soon as their “provisional patent” (their terms) has been filed. A number of people are planning on getting a “world-wide patent” (again, their terms) something which does not exist.
Loyal readers (and anyone caught in an elevator with me) already know my passion for Patent Analysis. Inventors, entrepreneurs and other innovators should pay close attention as the process is low risk and the results are always educational. As a quick recap, Patent Analysis takes statistical advantage of the roughly 5 million patent applications and granted patents being published around the world annually
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