A must read for innovators: 3M in recessionary times

I love this article:  At 3M, Innovation Comes in Tweaks and Snips (WSJ)

The article discusses 3M CEO George Buckley’s approach to driving innovation during a recession.  I’m impressive by his observations because they are devoid of the drivel so common among executives when asked about innovation. 

 

Steve Jobs: Just because you can innovate doesn’t mean you should

I recently came across a story on a website celebrating Apple’s innovativeness that breathlessly described a US patent application granted to Steve Jobs (among others) on a most devilish invention. 

 

More opportunities for innovators because of failure to pay US patent maintenance fees?

I read recently in the Patently-O patent law blog (my favorite patent blog besides Patent Baristas) that one of the USPTO’s biggest problems going forward with respect to revenues is a sharp drop in maintenance fees paid for granted US patents, ostensibly in response to the economic downturn.  Many inventors fail to realize that once they have successfully prosecuted their application until issuance, the costs don’t stop there. 

 

Backlash against transactional open innovation

A good article that sites the backlast against transactional models of open innovation:    Bloomberg article.

 

Steve Jobs and gadgets: Learnings for innovators

It has been a while since a new technology product hype equaled that of the new IPad announced last week from Apple. In all of the presentations by innovation consultants, pundits, and talking heads that I’ve been privy too over the years, no doubt Apple/Jobs has been cited more than any other as an example of the best of every type of innovation (open, closed, customer-driven, consumer-driven, Blue Sky,  and every-flavor thereof.) Everyone is eager to morph the Jobs message to mesh with whatever they are hawking.

Not to be outdone….

 

Friedman Article in NYT that Gub’ment focus on Innovation

This op-ed piece in the NYTimes by Thomas Friedman will be interesting to those interested in innovation.

I’d say Friedman is right in that President Obama should focus on job creation through innovation and revitalization.  But Friedman ignores a problem:  government will see the problem as “what should government do?” rather than “what are we doing to impeded business that we should stop?”

 

Can adademic studies propel a career in innovation?

Recently a friend’s college student daughter asked me how they might adapt her college courses for a “career in innovation.”  Having read my posts on Tin Whiskers, and aspiring to a top MBA program, she assumed I might have an inspired answer.  I did not.  And since I usually have a pat answer to questions about the hysteria around innovation (and open innovation in particular), I was a bit more surprised by my blank stare than was this starry eyed student.  That always causes me to reflect.

 

Open Innovation and in re Bilski

In my earlier career as an engineer, I encountered the patent process.  I’ll admit I wasn’t impressed.  I recall a meeting in 1989 where I described the invention (a software method for detecting the speed of wheels for anti-lock brake purposes) to a lawyer from GM’s patent office.  He claimed he was an engineer, too, but he certainly spoke a different language than I did.  He wrote up the patent application and asked me to read it.  I tried but couldn’t understand it.  I still can’t.  But the invention worked, I got a plaque and a hefty financial reward for it.

 

Temporary Employees: Good or Bad for Innovation

The December jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics repored the first drop in the unemployment rate since the beginning of the recession, from 10.2% to 10.0%.  As might be expected, economists the world over poured over the details of the report to see if is the start of a positive trends that will lead to higher employment levels and an accelerated economy.

 

A sea change in pharmaceutical industry’s attitude towards innovation?

The CEO of Sanofi-Aventis recently laid out a new plan for encouraging innovation within his company that differs drastically from the one that formerly existed there, and which differs from the typical model employed in most pharmaceutical companies.  The question is, will it stick?