Competition driving innovation
Next month marks the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic moon landing. A human walking on the moon was the culmination of a competitive space race played out between the United States and the Soviet Union, where huge technological progress was made in less than a decade. While the Soviet Union successfully sent the first human into space, the United States won the race to the moon.
History is peppered with instances where breakthrough innovation resulted from competition between two parties which sped up the pace of innovation. The telephone and the light bulb are but two examples of where multiple breakthroughs were made in a short space of time.
From competition to collaboration
Times change, however, and while competition still drives innovation, collaboration is fast emerging as the modern way to innovate, particularly where new technologies or the need to deliver disruptive innovation is part of the challenge.
Taking a collaborative approach to innovation can be powerful. It can bring together different skill sets, experiences, approaches and knowledge bases in a way which can challenge accepted assumptions and result in real diversity of thought. Moreover, as new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data driven insights emerge and become accepted drivers of disruptive change, companies are looking to form collaborative partnerships to leverage these new technologies as they tackle the challenges of tomorrow.
Recent examples of collaborative ventures can be seen in the automotive industry, where almost all traditional car manufactures are looking to partnerships and joint ventures to speed up the pace of innovation in their ongoing development of electric vehicles.
Leveraging intellectual property
Intellectual Property (IP) Rights can help make sure that new technology and innovation remains proprietary to those who created it. However, where innovation results from collaboration, issues such as ownership of IP and who has the right to exploit IP can quickly become complicated.
Seek advice early
Seeking advice early on in the collaborative process from a professional advisor, such as a Patent Attorney, is important. This can ensure that a clear delineation is made between what innovation each collaborative party brings to the project at the outset and what innovation results from their joint endeavour. Being clear on this is key and having the correct agreements in place can be critical to ensuring that any innovation can be commercialised to its full potential.
Gordon Stark is Chief Operations Officer of Murgitroyd, and a qualified UK and European Patent Attorney.
Murgitroyd can help you develop an IP strategy that helps your business reach its full potential.
Contact us now.
This article appeared in The Herald on the 17th June 2019.
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