Democratization of Innovation – Liberation of Patents for a Purpose
Fellow readers, this month GE announced that it will be opening up thousands (not thousands not hundreds) of patents from its library of 20,000 patents. First off, this liberation of IP (patents) is a huge forward move. Why? For decades, global companies have viewed their technical prowess, not in terms of new products and innovation introduced to the market on a regular basis, BUT, in terms of the numbers of patents held by the company.
This patent-holding pattern has many obvious problems, but the one I want to discuss is ‘suing’ and harming entrepreneurship. If you are an entrepreneur, you will need to fish through hundreds of thousands of patents to make sure you are not infringing on anyone’s patents which halts innovation because start-ups are reluctant to risk a legal fight with large (and more financially stable) corporations. In the process of this democratization started by GE, 5 key positive events will occur:
I. Start-up entrepreneurs will now have access to IP which they can bring their know-how and skills to innovate and create new products. They can opt to sell it directly and give GE royalties OR, alternatively, come up with a mutually agreeable plan with GE, for GE to market the product.
II. GE will connect with hundreds of start-ups globally, who can bring value to the market with their IP. Hence, they will know the pockets of talent which ordinarily they would not have been aware of. This in turn will spike up innovation at GE, for GE products and bring variety and diversity in the products.
III. This one is major: It is hugely difficult if not impossible to break through large corporations. This creates a communication bridge between GE and such companies, opening more possibilities for both sides, hence spurring innovation both at GE and outside of GE.
IV. At times may allow GE to invest or co-invest and be a part of the productization of the patent.
V. Beyond anything else, this allows our global community to innovate at a much higher rate than we see today.
To start off, GE has decided to use Quirky’s crowdsourcing product development platform. Hey- I am all for the crowdsourcing of innovation. Quirky will play the role of the online platform, connecting folks who can productize the patent into a useable innovative product for GE. Currently, we know a subset of the patents, but soon many more will be identified. I am excited about companies like Quirky which are taking crowdsourcing into another level and allowing such a marketplace.
Having said that, let’s remember, once the patent is openly available and the developers/entrepreneurs identified, we would benefit greatly if we build sustainable prototyping and funding models to move the process forward rapidly and not just celebrate because we have an enabling platform. To make this work, we need to take the innovation to the final stage, which is turning IP (patents) into products which the market wants and where revenue is produced. But this is a key first step.
For decades, we have known that patents are silent silos where we hide our abilities carefully and which we police to make sure no one can touch it. This move by GE is a whole new ball game. Yes, this opens the door to nations such as China and India, who have a wealth of technical talent who can productize IP efficiently, and I salute that. Let the games begin.
What GE has done is a full disruption to the world of IP ownership. Instead of doing what Motorola did with Google (selling the IP portfolio and now Google owning the IP) or what Kodak is desperately doing but not succeeding (trying to make money off of the IP), GE is changing the game. As I talk in ProVoke, innovation and positive change can only come if we are willing to mindfully disrupt. GE is mindfully disrupting a highly protected area and clearly there will be resistance by some companies, but it will, without a doubt, forward us towards success. Without a willingness to change things, nothing changes and nothing improves. Stay tuned as I keep you posted on this front. GE is an absolute member of my Culture of Disruption (CofD).
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