Corurerurs

5.1 - Invention
5.2 - Innovation

5.3 - Strategies for innovation

5.4 - Stakeholders in invention and innovation

5.5 - Product life cycle

5.6- Rogers'characteristics of innovation and consumers

5.7 - lnnovation, design and marketing specifications
Sample questions
Case study

5.l.INVENTION
Esserulnl tDEA
Drivers for invention
The protection of a novel product that solves a
problem is a major factor in commercial design. People invent for a variety of reasons including the
meeting of basic human needs, self fulfilment, financial
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better for others.

Nnrune oF DEstGN Invention has been critical to the development of modern

lnvention by lone inventors or in collaborative,
creative teams is at the forefront of design.
Designers must not only be creative and
innovative, but understand the concepts that
will make a new product viable. A designer
must use imagination and be firmly grounded
in factual and procedural knowledge whilst
remembering the needs and limitations of the
end user.
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Arrvr
lnventions are often the result of an individual
or gr6up's curiosity about whether something
can be done or a problem can be solved.
On occasion, inventions are the result of an
individual's curiosity about something other
than the product finally developed. These
inventions include microwave ovens, ink-jet
printers and post-it@ notes.
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society. Englishman Thomas Malthus (t766-t834)
warned that population growth, if unchecked would
exceed the capacity ofthe earth to provide food, a position
again proposed by Paul Ehrlich in his i968 publication,
'The Population Bomb'. In both cases projections of the
date at which such calamities would occur were averted
by technological changes that increased food production.
These technological changes took place in a range of
fields, including but not limited to transportation,
food preservation, agriculture and communications
technologies. Norbert Wiener ( 1 894- 1 964) mathematician
and philosopher clarifies these thoughts in his statement,
"We live only by the grace of invention; not merely by such
invention as has aiready been made, but by our hope of
new and as yet nonexisting inventions for the future'l
As suggested in the previous paragraph, motivations
for improvement have included grand ideals such as
betterment of society and even baser instincts such as
survival, however, the drivers for invention are complex
and often a combination of factors.
Necessity is the oft-quoted mother of invention. Little
could be more pressing than the need to feed an ever
growing population. The spectre of an increasing

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population coupled with unreliable food supplies ied the
political economist Thomas Malthus in 1798 to suggest
that population predictions couid not be supported by
known methods of food production and would lead to a
correction by mass starvation. While his prediction proved
inaccurate, it was the increasing pace of innovation during
the Industrial Revolution that led to a solution to the food
supply problem. The introduction of rail transport greatly
increased the amount of food that could be distributed
in a short period of time plus the ability to rapidly move
grain and meat large distances also meant that new
areas of land distant from cities and towns could now
be linked to markets economically and were therefore
now viable locations for food production. As iron and
steel production increased, farm implements previously
made of wood began to be replaced by mass produced
equipment made of sturdier, Ionger lasting iron and
steel. The efficiency of farm production was also greatly
improved by the invention of mechanical tools such as
stump jump plough and combine harvester.
Many inventors of the past have been inquisitive explorers,
driven by a creative pursuit or personal interest to develop
something new The nature of innovation fbr many
seen as a personal challenge to be overcome, associated
professional standing within a professional community
and career advancement along with financial recompense
may be powerful drivers. Clearly, the commercial side of
the equation is important for independent inventors and
the desire to make money from a new invention ranks
highly.
Design competitions, both recent and historic have been
strong motivators for individuals to create or invent
solution to an identified problem. Some examples follow.
Figure 5.1.1X-Prize Foundation winner SpaceSh,: - -.
image by lan Kluft, (own image), share alike 3.0 Llnc: '':- .
A more altruistic approach is apparent from thr...
desire to create solutions to problems for the public -
The lone inventor
The concept of the lone inventor was popL1lari..-
journalists during the Industrial Revolution : :
inventors were associated with the developnl.:,.
the significant discoveries. Later, others such as Aie:',. -
Graham Bell and the telephone, Thomas Edison ar.: '-
Iight bulb or gramophone and later the Wright Bri: - ,
and flight also had their efforts promoted by the pre..
is The classic and most often quoted example of the -
inventor was Thomas Edison, who held patents tbr :.-
than a 1 000 inventions. Recent research chailens.. ---
notion of Edison and others toiling individualll. l.
Burkus, (2013) in his book, The Myths of Creativitl'. c., -
Edison was the public front man for a whole creatir-e := - -'
of engineers, machinists, and physicists. While his ;--
to innovate is not challenged, the perception that he ; -
alone is subject to debate.
a

In 1809 Nicolas Franqois Appert developed a system for

preserving food in glass bottles in response to a challenge
set by Napoleon Bonaparte. A prize of 12,000 francs was
on offer to the person who could better preserve food to
sustain Napoleant armies in the field.

The influence behind the development of the IBM

artificial intelligence 'Deep Blue' that defeated world chess
champion Gary Kasparov in 1996 was a US $100 000 prize. Figure 5.1.2 Thomas Edison C|882 - lone inventor.

The X-Prize Foundation advertised a US $10 million cash
prize for the first privately owned aircraft to transport three
people into space and then repeat the operation within a
two week windovrr The prize was claimed by Burt Rutan
when in 2004 his design, SpaceShipOne successfully met
the competition criteria.
In fact others have also documented the notion o: - -
sole inventor as a myth and include the likes of T., -
Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Morse, and Eli \\'h:: .
as prominent inventors who relied on the work of oth. '
Mark Lemley of Stanford Law School, when n'riting -
patent law for the Michigan Law Review, (2012) nc..-
"surveys of hundreds of significant new technolt:. .
show that almost all of them are invented simultanet -,

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or nearly simultaneously by two or more teams working
independently of each other. Invention appears in
significant part to be a social, not an individual,
phenomenonl
\\Ihile historically there are still recorded instances
oi individuals plucking an idea from the ether, most
ne'rv technology and inventions have been the result
of simultaneous or concurrent research conducted by
teams often fronted by an individual who has been able
to successfully register or patent an idea first. Inventors
as a rule build on work preceding their efforts and often
nerv ideas are floated before one or another group adopt
the notion for development, modification or refinement.
These changes are often based on new technologies,
:naterials or manufacturing processes.
The advantages and disadvantages of being a lone
inventor
Lone inventors are able to exert complete control over
ihe development of their work. The nature of their
irorking style may also indicate they are used to working
rndependently and not part of larger teams where they are
'ust one voice among many. They often have significant
emotional investment and ownership issues surrounding
:heir efforts and as such may have difficulty working with
.rthers who may wish to take design development in other
iirections.
he nature of collaborative teams, however, working on
lerr. ideas brings a whole new dynamic to the nature of
:nnovation. Collaboration not only brings more than one
:.erspective to an idea but new potential by introducing
l range of expertise, experience and problem solving
.echniques. Singh and Fleming, (2009), in their research
:aper Lone Inventors as Source of Breakthroughs Myth or
-ieality? propose, "team and/or organization affiliation
.:rcreases the likelihood of creative outcomes'l
)uring the 20th century things have become clearer and
.re notion of the lone inventor has gradually disappeared
'. ith the emergence of multi-national companies
..nd research and development teams. Increasingly,
. :e majority of products today are very complicated.
.laterials technology, manufacturing processes and
.:sting procedures are now so complex no one person
'.:s the knowledge, skills or resources to successfully
::ing a product to the market. Once an initial concept is
::oposed, multidisciplinary teams of experts are required
r deveiop and market the successful product. It is these
-:oups that are nolv mostly credited with major product
-:r'elopments.
lntellectual property (lP)
The World Intellectual Property Organisation defines
intellectual property (IP) as anything that, "refers to
creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and
artistic works; designs; and symbols, niunes and images
used in commerce'l Common types of IP rights include
patents, trademarks and copyright.
Benefits of IP
IP is protected by law and as an extension protects the
creator or inventor from having their work used by others.
This protection assists inventors and investors to recoup
expensive research and development costs without fear
of unfair competition. In this way, iP encourages and
supports creativity and innovation. IP is a balance between
the rights ofthe inventor and needs or wants ofthe greater
market and consumers. Specifically, the benefits associated
with granting of IP rights may include the following:
. consideration by investors as a safeguard ofan asset for
a start-up company or new product venture requiring
funding
. protection from competitors and a guarantee that the
product is original in its nature
. protection extended beyond the primary design and
the income associated with its sale, any income stream
pursuant to derivative designs and licensed production
thereof
. searchable documentation through patent databases
providing access to the latest developments,
technologies and processes, (estimates from the
European Commission documents archive suggest
80% ofcurrent technical knowledge is stored in patent
document form).
Strategies for protecting lP: patents; trademarks;
design protection; copyright
Patents
In simple terms, patents protect inventions. A patent
provides the registered owner with the right to prevent
others from copying, manufacturing selling or importing
your invention without express permission. Patents
protect a range of IP not limited to physical products but
extending to manufacturing processes, software, materials
developments and even methods of business.
To ensure a successful patent application, the invention
must be new and not directly related to or a derivative of
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an existing patent. As an additional protection only the
inventor may apply for a patent ie. you cannot patent
anothert invention. Design patents are restricted to the
appearance of an article as shown in the drawings and
illustrations covered by the patent.
In return for the protections offered by the patenting
process, the inventor agrees to make ail of the technical
infonnation associated with the patent publicly available.
The term 'patent pending' indicates that a Patent
application has been filed. It does not guarantee the issue
of a patent license but serves as a warning that a patent
may be issued. Patent license contracts may also include
safety and or quality assurance clauses.
Most often patents are territorial in that they offer
protection only in the country in which the patent has
been fiied. Searchable databases such as those held by
Google (google.com/patents) and esp@cenet offer access
to millions of patent documents from around the worid.
These databases provide companies and individuais rvith
information and may answer questions that may save
valuable time and money. Some of these questions are
listed below.
. Does a clrrrent patent exist in a particular field?
. Is a patent still in force or has it expired?
. What are competitors in a similar field working on?
. Is there information or technology in existence that
can assist with research and development?
Copyright
Copyright is a mechanism to protect the rights of artists
and authors. Denoted by an encircled letter t' the copyright
symbol is applied to works of any medium. Copyrighted
works cover a large range of materials including:
books, movies, television, music, advertisements, radio
broadcasts, software, databases, works of art, drawings,
maps, photographs, etc.
The length of time a copyright may be enforced depends
on the type of rvork covered. In the UK, Iiterary, theatrical
musical or artistic rvorks are protected for the life of the
creator plus an additional 70 years from the year of their
death.
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TrademarksrNl, ServicemarkssNl and Registered
Trademarks'
The marking of goods with a maker's identifying m::.
goes back to ancient times. However, it wasnt until ,-,
establishment of medieval craft guilds that rules star.:-
appearing governing their use. In the 1800s consur.:.l:-
started to place a market value on a manufacturer's tr.'.:.
rnarked goods and the courts began to support trac.
against infringement of their rights to distinguisi: -
product as their own.
Today the trademark symbol denotes an unregiste:. -
trademark. It most often appears in superscripted
subscripted form and is regularly used for brand names
products to differentiate one manufacturer from anotl--:-
in the marketplace.
As the name suggests, servicemarks are appended :
services such as advertising as opposed to products .
packaging. Service marks may even be sounds us.-
in advertising or in the delivery of a service. As ri-:'
trademarks, servicemarks must be identifiable ;.:-,-
suitably unique.
The registration of a trademark provides a compan)- \\ - -
a range of protections and opportunities. A registe:.-
trademark signals to other companies your legal righl
exclusively claim the rights to use the unique markins
your goods. Companies with registered tradernarks rl:-
take legal action against others who use the mark tvithi -'
permission, however, permission to use the mark n:-
be extended to others through the awarding of francit.,-
rights or licenses. The registered trademark symbo-
usually superscripted or subscripted and appears in pl;-.
of the trademark or service mark symbols.
TM SM
Figure 5.1.3 Patent, trademark and copyright lP symb:
The effectiveness of strategies for protecting IP
In Europe and the United States, patents are gran:: -
for a period of twenty years from the earliest filing c.-.
on which the patent was granted. While providir.re : ,
inventor with a measure of protection and an opportll:-, :
to recover expensive research and development c.:
through the commercialisation of the idea, patentine;:-.-
have the effect of reducing competition and hampe:-: -
the development of nerv products and processes.
The high costs associated with patenting may be mitigated
to some degree through licensing fees negotiated with
competitors. This is particularly reievant in the field of
serniconductors where the existing technology is covered
bv hundreds of patents held by a range of organisations.
For some, however, these fees can be a disincentive to
ir.rnovate based on existing technology and process.
\\Iithout patents, inventors would be forced to keep their
ideas secret. If the invention did not go to market then the
innovation may be lost without being documented and
centrally recorded.
The field with the strongest financial return and
rreed for stringent patent protection is that covering
pharmaceuticais and biotechnology. Successful drug
developments can yield billions of doilars in prohts and
the nervly identified filed of gene therapy is no different.
The path to financial success has proven not to be as clear
irs first envisioned.
In 2013 the US Supreme court ruled in a unanimous
decision that, 'A naturally occurring DNA segment is a
product of nature and not patent eligible merely because
it has been isolatedl' The ruling invalidates all past claims
on natural human gene sequences (approx. 4 000) and
secures the future of those which have been patented. This
ruling is by no means universal as governments around
the world struggle to separate the nature of innovation
opposed to the isolation of naturally occurring DNA
sequences.
\Iany companies like those in the biotechnology field
have tried to 'lock down specifics relevant to their
businesses to the point where applications can be seen as
tiivolous. In 2001 the United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit upheld an appeal against the previous
Examining Attorney's ruling to refuse to grant a service
mark application to the Thrifty vehicle rental company
u,,hose application asked for registration of "the colour
blue'l The application rvas refused on the grounds of being
insufficiently concise.
First to market
If innovations are successful in the market then imitators
rvi1l seik to replicate the experience, and the lodging
of a patent for registration telegraphs to competitive
businesses that another manufacturer has an innovation
they want to protect. Unfortunately, part of the patent
protection process requires the innovator to reveal not
only the driving concept behind the new deveiopment but
also the associated designs, technologies and processes
associated with its manufacture. While the cost of patent
application is relatively cheap, the time involved and
the costs surrounding the maintenance and defence of
patent rights can be excessive. It is for these reasons that
many innovative companies in both Europe and the USA
value market share, lead time, secrecy and superior sales
more than the securing of a patent when considering the
maximising of profits from new developments.
Shelved technologies
Some patented inventions simply aren't commercially
viable, in that the cost associated with bringing them to
market would generate a price beyond the means of the
target market. Similad some developments simply do
not have a commercial application or identified market.
Other, successful and commercially viable innovations r=
identified by rival companies in the same field may be
'acquiredi With a new owner, the innovation may now be
incorporated into the host companies products or may be
shelved to remoye competition from the marketplace.
I urrnrunnoNAL MTNDEDNEsS
The role of intellectual property and patents in
stifling or promoting inventions globally needs
to be considered, especially with regard to the
inequalities between countries. L
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In 1859 Abraham Lincoln praised the introduction of
patent laws for having "..secured to the inventor, for
a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and
thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in
the discovery and production of new and useful things."
He also claimed patents laws to be one of the three most
important developments in the history of the world.
In more recent times the patent process, particularly in
the US, has been seen as less than satisfactory. In 2010 a
patent application in the US took an average 34.6 months
to be processed. At the same time there were 1.2 million
applications in the system. Testimony from the US Patent
Office made to the The House |udiciary Committee heard
the US Patent Office "does not have the resources it needs
to speedily process meritorious patent applications and
to effectively filter out bad patent claims." and "when
applications do not get examined in a timely fashion,
important innovations are delayed or lost to the public'i
The passing of particularly broad patent claims have the
effect oflimiting future developments or forcing companies
to pay expensive licensing fees. These broad patents may
act as a barrier to individuals and companies fearful of
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infringing existing patents, when litigation defending a Students may choose to investigate nhat imal.,-.,
new idea may be more expensive than any potential profits
from future sales. Companies known as non-practicing
entities, patent assertion entities or colloquially as "patent
trolls" are organisations which capitalise on these broad
patents by purchasing poorly performing companies for
their strong intellectual property rights. The troll then
uses these patents like weapons in litigation to force other
companies to settle out of court to avoid the high costs
of litigation. In many cases it is faster and easier to settle
out of court rather than risk protracted and expensive
litigation costs.
In February of 2013 President Obama referred to patents
trolls individuals and companies that, "....dont actually
as
produce anything themselves ... they are essentially trying
to leverage and hijack somebody else's idea and see if they
can extort some money out of theml'
In a comment on the nature of modern patents and
litigation, technology billionaire Mark Cuban, (when
referring to the jury verdict in favour ofApple and against
Samsung), is quoted as saying, "If the IBM PC was created
in this patent environment there would be no Apple. They
would have sued them out of existence."
Theory of knowledge
What is the role of imagination in invention? Are
there limits to what can be imagined?
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Imagination is the forming of new concepts, ideas, and
images in the mind that are created from a combination
of previous experiences or inputs drawn from all of our
senses. It is this combining and recombining of existing
knowledge in a variety of alternative arrangements
unconstrained by the laws of nature that produces creative
results, never seen or irnagined before.
An argument could be made that this is one of those areas
that we dorit know what we dont know? How can we
iniagine a limit to imagination if we cant imagine such a
limitation?
Before Pasteur and the germ theory, who imagined
that there was microscopic life, let alone viruses, that
were responsible for disease? Until something has been
discovered or theorized (imagined) to be possible - there
is a limit - isnt there? That is not to say that some time in
the future the limit will not change.
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-=
I--
is and review some of the worid's great thinke:s - .
attempting to apply this knorvledge to the -.,:
invention and design.
|acob Bronowski (1908-1974), a Polish-born ini;--.:--
and mathematician who studied and wrote , -.
sciences, technology, poetry and the relation :.. :
creativity in the arts and the sciences, saw imaqin;: -
uniquely human and described it as "the abilitv ir '-
images and to move them about inside one's he.rd , .
arrangements." He goes on to say "Of all the disti:.::
between man and animal, the characteristic gilt '
makes us human is the power to work rvith sr::-
images: the gift of imagination."
The American author William Arthur Ward ( 192 1 - - - - -
is famously quoted as writing, "if you can imagine -.
can achieve itl' The suggestion here is that imagi:'.--
is not the limiting factor but the ability of the pers.
either use their imagination or place faith in it.
RW Beardsmore (1944-1977) argues that imas::-
unlike memory is not simply recollection but is none,.-.. .
bound by past experiences. The following quo:.
Richard Payne Knight may sum this more eloquenth'
may compose, paint and describe moments and chii:--. -.
of every extravagant variety of form; but still, if n'e an.
them, ne shall always find that the component parti -
much so ever they maybe distorted or disguised, have --. ,
taken from objects or qualities of objects, with rvhic-.
have previously been acquainted throughout the org::.,
sensationl' Therefore he his arguing that there is a 1in:-.
his definition. Our imagination has to be limited be;:-
it cannot include experiences we have yet to have i: -
future.
Students should consider questions such as:
. What concepts, objects are difficult to imagine?
. What constitutes the unimaginable?
. What does it mean'to have a limited imagination?
Exercise
Explore a range of areas of knowledge and histor',
identify occurrences of imagination in the develop,::-..-
of new products, principles or theories. Examples cou-; ,
the entire genre of science fiction or Newtont imagr:- -
of the moon as a ball thrown hard enough to fall in col - : -
with the horizon.
Consider the quote by Einstein (879- 1 955), "Imagination
1 use in the population, many come with warnings and a list
:s more important than knowledge. For knowledge
.s limited to all we now know and understand, while
:rr-iagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever
'r-i11 be to know and understand."
Sometimes there are unforeseen consequences
of inventions. To what extent might lack of
knowledge be an excuse for unethical conduct?
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.\merican sociologist Robert K. Merton advanced the
;oncept of unintended consequences in the 1930s when
eramining the relationship between deliberate attempts
:o affect positive social change and their actual outcomes.
Consideration here should be given to the range of
possible causes ofunintended consequences he and others
i-rave proposed, including:
. ignorance (It is impossible to anticipate everything,
thereby leading to incomplete analysis)
. errors in analysis or testing, use ofpoor data
. human factors of self interest, gain, bias, etc.
. complexity of systems and their interaction with ever-
changing environments
. the nature of small changes having far reaching effects
as described by the 'butterfly effecti
Generally it is agreed that unintendedor unforseen
.onsequences from the development or introduction
of inventions and innovations fall into three distinct
categories; desirable, undesirable and a contrarian result
that is the reverse of what was originally intended, (the
oaperless office of the '80s promised as result of the
computer revolution comes to mind here). History is
littered with unintended consequences as a result of
innovation.
The microwave oven, designed to speed the process of
cooking food actually removed food preparation largely
liom the home and spawned a whole industry making
pre-prepared meals. This led in turn to individuals heating
up their own meals as and when required and thus the
reduction in influence of the family dining table on society.
The pharmaceutical industry constantly issues new
drugs. These drugs undergo years of rigorous testing in
laboratories and field trials and yet over time, after general
of uninteneded side-effects. Some are even removed from
the market.
ARPANET was the forerunner of todayt internet and
was originally developed to allow the U.S. Department of
Defence to connect universities and research laboratories
in the US to collaboratively work on their projects. It
would be impossible to all of the positive and negative
see
consequences associated with the public use of such a
powerful communications devices including:
. identity theft, cyber bullying, internet addictions, loss
of efficiency in the workplace, etc.
. social networking, online medical diagnosis, remote
control of machinery and services, online shopping,
etc.
The international mindedness section in Chapter 5.2
documents case studies where innovations have been
transferred from one culture to another with negative
effects. Did these actions constitute unethical behaviour?
Doesnt unethical conduct suggest you have knowledge
and are choosing to act unethically? In cases where you
dont have knowledge of adverse consequences, but
believe there might be some, it may be argued it wouid be
unethical to not put measures in place to avoid unwanted
consequences.
The student should examine what might constitute a lack
of knowledge. The tobacco industry argued for decades
that insufficient evidence, and therefore knowledge, of a
link between cancer and cigarette smoking existed even
though most of the medical community believed such
a link had been shown. Was this unethical behaviour?
Unethical conduct can never be condoned or excused,
the real test is whether any undesirable side effects from
the introduction of a new technology or product could or
should have been anticipated in the early stages ofresearch
and development.
Exercise
Choose a recent invention, system or environment
and examine the unintended consequences (or uses)
this technology or product revealed over time. Simple
examples could include the iPad, the paperless ofice,
Facebook, solar power rebate schemes and their effect on
electricity prices and so on.
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