Dan Robles

Founder

The Ingenesist Project

http://ingenesist.com

Dan Robles's Seattle-based The Ingenesist Project is a private think tank that predicts and specifies elements of the next
economic paradigm as built on a platform of social media.   Mr. Robles helps organizations identify future disruptions to their
existing strategies and assists in implementing ways to exploit or evade such disruptions.  His clients are mostly from the
aerospace, higher education, finance, and diverse corporate
marketing concerns.

Dan is a licensed professional Engineer and holds an MBA in International Business.  He has many years experience in the Aerospace Industry working on programs from the Space Shuttle to the 777.  Most recently, he held global account management positions in aircraft acquisition and aircraft service engineering at Boeing where he commissioned over 3 billion
dollars worth of aviation products.

Patents and copyright protections take a long time and a lot of money to implement. In this age where value and innovation are more in the fast delivery and intangibles, is the old way of protecting your ideas simply outdated? Perhaps your time and money could be better spent elsewhere. People have felt the need to protect their ideas since 500 B.C., but evidence of patent laws was not seen until the late 15th century in the Republic of Venice and copyright law emerged in the 18th century to protect written works. No true value can be placed on sweat equity, but these laws meant the creator of a new idea or process received financial compensation for his or her work. As technological innovation exploded in the 1990s and beyond, so did the demand for patents and patent applications became more complex as businesses tried to protect every aspect of a design in the scramble to stifle competition. Multiple patent applications, particularly for technology and software development, swamped the Patent Office and the multiple lawsuits that followed put the dampers on the creative process for many innovators. Meanwhile, history showed that more progress was made by innovators who chose not to apply for patents. Mike Masnick noted in an article on techdirt.com, “Patents tend to divert from the natural market of innovation to areas that are more easily "protectable."” And then there are the “trolls” described by John Kelly in his article on science.howstuffworks.com. Trolls, otherwise known as nonpracticing entities (NPEs), buy patents and use them to make money from companies with a successful market for the idea.  Erik Kain wrote on forbes.com that some form of competitive collaboration may be the way forward. In the spirit of free markets, he believes that although nobody should be allowed to copy an entire product or idea, “copy-and-improve” innovation would be more productive than patenting numerous small innovations. Patent freedom groups are meanwhile advocating for patent-related reforms to curb the actions of NPEs. To turn this trend into an advantage for your organization, consider the following. Evolve how you protect IP.  The landscape and purpose of IP protections is changing and you need to change your strategy with it. Protecting IP is about more than patents. Consider many creative types of protection including trade secrets, copyrights, creative commons and more. Patents slow time to market. By the time you have patents in place, the market may have passed you by. Competitive collaboration speeds innovation. Allowing copy and improve philosophies lead to rapid innovation and advancements. Lastly, communities are powerful IP protection. Communities formed around preserving your IP or product will go farther than most patent protection can.