Cloud-based file storage services such as Dropbox, Drop.net, Cloud Drive, Google Drive, SkyDrive or SugarSync have been used by designers for the past five years. These services have made storage and sharing of files easier and cheaper, increasing collaboration, productivity and lowering costs. Nobody denies the clear success of these established services. However, there are five reasons why designers, innovators and creative professionals shouldn’t use any of them. [Read more...]
5 Reasons Designers Shouldn’t Use Dropbox, Drop.net, Cloud Drive, Google Drive, SkyDrive or SugarSync
May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
10 Portfolio Optimization Best Practices, Research Published by PDMA
May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Research conducted by Newlogic and Babson College into the best practices of project portfolio selection has been published by PDMA. Our research determined that leading innovation organization use the following 10 common portfolio decision criteria:
- Net Present Value
- Break Even
- Return on Investment
- Cost Objectives
- Fitness to Market
- People and Resources
- Ability to Sell
- Technology Road Map
- Fit to Corporate Strategy
- Competitive Advantage
This research is integrated into Newlogic’s R&D project portfolio management service to enable dynamic project selection aligned with business, marketing and technology strategy.
Newlogic’s research and findings are available for download here.
Happy World Intellectual Property Day
April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on April 26 in order to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe”.
The 2012 theme is: Visionary Innovators.
The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000.
Closely related is National Inventor’s Day in the US each February 11.
The 6 Features Needed In Your Idea Management System
April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
We completely agree with Phil McKinney’s assessment that the six features needed in your idea management system. They also happen to be six key features of InnoAnalytics.com.
Idea Management Is Key To Your Innovation Strategy
Ideas are the currency in the new creative economy therefore you need tools to manage this valuable asset as part of your overall innovation strategy. Idea management is often overlooked as a crucial component in the overall innovation process.
What are the features you need in your idea management system?
1. Idea capture and tracking
2. Idea evaluation
3. Idea collaboration
4. Track ideas through your innovation process/gates
5. Ability to pause ideas
6. Support innovation challenges
To learn more, listen to his podcast here.
Structural Packaging Summit, Wrap Up
March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Newlogic recently presented at the “Structural Packaging Summit,” in Orlando, Florida. The event went from February 29th to March 1st and included many speakers that we have interviewed and written about in the past. We felt the event was a great success with thoughtful presentations and dynamic networking sessions.
Christopher Yows, of R&D/Leverage spoke alongside Patrick George, director of engineering for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, on “Rapid Refresh in 28 Weeks – An Idea to Tool. They had an interesting take on packaging, speaking a lot about how consumers literally “feel” a brand. They took that idea and provided qualitative and quantitative data to support their claims.
Rebecca Oesterle, of Energizer Battery Co. gave an educational view on their new “Easy Open Battery Package”. She discussed that Energizer, with help from Tegrant, developed a new battery package that opens with an easy twisting motion rather than the other battery packages.
Russ Napolitano, of Corebrand, presented on “Winning the Brand Wars and the Role of Packaging”. He led in with how the big company battles (Coke & Pepsi, Nike & Reebok, etc.) are being won and lost by each brand. Then he explained how packaging is directly related to the success of a brand.
Newlogic’s Tom Hambleton and Wil Jacques presented on patent reform and the affect it will have on packaging in the future. It’s one of Newlogic’s most innovative and pertinent topics and we received a lot of questions and interest from attendees after presenting. (link to presentation)
Information about patent reform’s effect on R&D/NPD management is available in our presentation (here). Newlogic also provides ½ day patent reform workshops for senior managers of R&D organizations. More about our workshops is available here, or contact Wil Jacques, Newlogic’s practice leader for intellectual property strategy and management here.
USPTO’s New Patent Fee Proposal
February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The USPTO has released a series of documents about the proposed new rules for patent fees. These new rules are part of the Patent Reform act of 2011, and were one of the main reasons the act received such wide bipartisan support, the patent office has a strategic issue with pendency, there are more patent application coming in than there are resources to handle the volume. Here’s a list of the issues addressed in the announcement and the image of the proposed fee structure.
PowerPoint deck of the fee changes.
While this announcement may mean higher fees for larger R&D departments, Patent fees are overall a smaller portion of the cost of patenting when considering the costs of attorney fees. The bigger issues for R&D departments arise in making decisions about what to patent and what not to patent in light of the Patent Reform Bill’s changes from first to invent, to first inventor to file, and the effects those changes have on choices about what to patent when and if an invention is within a company’s overall technology strategy. [Read more...]
Insights For R&D On The US Patent Reform Bill By Robert Stoll
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Newlogic is a management consultancy to R&D executives. So we think a lot about how the processes of R&D organizations operate. We’ve been wondering how R&D processes are going to change because of the US Patent Reform bill of 2011. So I’ve been conducting a number of interviews with industry colleagues, and writing a series of articles about Patent Reform, R&D and product development.
I decided to interview Bob Stoll, who is a new partner in the Drinker Biddle & Reath’s (link: http://www.drinkerbiddle.com/) Intellectual Property Practice Group., Mr. Stoll, is the former U.S. Patent Commissioner. Chatting during our interview he suggested that while the act wasn’t perfect, which Act is? He said, “The act is taking the system into the 21st century, and will stimulate economic growth and invention.” Here’s the rest of the interview.
John: R&D organizations are concerned with technology strategy, that process of determining which projects to develop based on the company’s business strategy. Given that what organizational changes do you think R&D organizations should make to prepare for the US Patent Reform bill? [Read more...]
Patent Reform At The University Of Hawaii Tech Transfer Office
January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Patent Reform will be rolling forward for the next few years culminating in the implementation of the final provisions on September 16th 2013. The USPTO announced some new rules about prior user right, so not only do we have to learn and consider what are the effects of patent reform will be on the R&D organization, but results will only become apparent over time.
Lee Marvin Taylor is a Specialist, in the Entrepreneurship Program (COE) for Technology Liaison at the University of Hawaii. Following my interview with Melba Kurman, I was introduced to Lee as running a top University Tech Transfer office in the US. He graciously answered my questions, and also asked Eric Cohen, Intellectual Property Attorney, at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione to clarify a point.
John: What steps has your college taken to prepare for the America Invents Act?
Lee: The deadline is March 16th of 2013, and we are really kind of business as usual, however we will have to file earlier and more often. The grace period will go away. And so that means that while a good many of disclosures are given to us after publication, many Universities have relied on 102 b for the grace period. This has been the existing M.O. at Universities; professors do the publications, and then go to the tech transfer office. Obviously if it’s a pharmaceutical matter, the professor and the office work harder. Now given the changes to the law the Technology Transfer Office will have to work harder, to get a professor to file before disclosure, because of the loss of US and foreign rights. Our education about the changes will happen in the fall of this year. [Read more...]
Patent Reform’s Effect On The University Tech Transfer Office & R&D Organizations
January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Melba Kurman is my next interview subject for my blog series on Patent Reform and R&D. I found Melba through the series of excellent articles she has written on the topic of Patent Reform and Universities. Melba Kurman is a strong advocate of both the value of university innovation, as well as the value of updating and evolving how university inventions are brought to market. Her insights and analysis arise from first-hand experience working inside a university technology transfer office and before that, in a large technology company. She is the president of Triple Helix Innovation, a consulting firm dedicated to improving innovation partnerships between companies and universities.
John: What organizational changes do you have to make to prepare for patent reform?
Melba: The unit that manages patents — the technology transfer office in the case of a university — will have to think through whether it can afford the time and cost of getting a provisional patent on most newly submitted inventions. If a university is going to make the commitment to patenting more of its inventions, then many universities will need to make changes to their tech transfer workflow and budget allocations. In terms of outreach, technology transfer staff should reach out to university researchers to make sure that researchers understand that there’s a weakened grace period, and that they should submit new inventions as soon as they can. [Read more...]
Brad Barbera On What Patent Reform Means For Product Development
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Patent Reform approaches, actually, it is already here given that some of the provisions are already in place, and product development managers need to be thinking about its consequences. That’s why I chose to reach out to Brad Barbera, who is the Executive Director of the Product Development and Management Association, he has been in his current role at the PDMA for about 9 months, but has a 15 year background with the association and over twenty years in the field of product development. Brad and I recently chatted about the issue of Patent Reform and product development.
First, however, Brad had a disclaimer: “I am not a lawyer, we do not have a staff PDMA IP lawyer, and I have not sought specific advice in this area. Everything is based on what I’ve read, and my own personal speculation.”
John: What steps has your association taken to prepare product development members for the America Invents Act?
Brad: We are trying to understand the act; I’m contacting IP lawyers, planning on webinars and in-person presentations at both the international and local levels. But I see that there’s an 18 month window here, where there’s a lot to still be settled, as not all the rules are written. So here at the PDMA we are interested in understanding the implications and helping our members operate effectively in the new system. My biggest single concern is that the rules are going to get in the way of innovation, more than they are going to help. [Read more...]