Posted tagged ‘innovation’

Lecture in Munich

May 13, 2009

Next week I’ll visit Munich, labeled as one of most beautiful cities in Europe to present a paper and lecture at the Max Planck’s Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC). The subject of the talk is patent advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. My co-author James Conley and I have measured the patent advocacy of [...]

How to think like an i-preneur

May 6, 2009

I define an i-preneur as someone who can extract value from intellectual assets. An i-preneur has clear goals and procedures to generate income from their knowledge-based assets. Understanding how intellectual assets generate wealth is the biggest challenge today’s entrepreneurs face. It is also among the biggest opportunities for wealth creation. I’ve seen many i-preneurs in [...]

The Patent Piler

April 25, 2009

I met Allan Tokuda when I was a Teaching and Research Fellow at Northwestern University. I was helping teach a course on Innovation and Invention in the engineering program. Allan was one of the brighter and more inquisitive students. I knew he had some remarkable qualities when, before class one day, he took out a [...]

Use I.P. To Increase Your Company’s Value

April 12, 2009

In the knowledge economy, two-thirds of a company’s balance sheet assets are comprised of intangible assets. The true value of companies no longer resides in factories or real estate. It resides in the minds of talented employees and in the intellectual property these employees generate, properties like trademarks, trade secrets, designs, know-how, copyrights and patents. [...]

Will Google Shut Down Copycat Site?

April 3, 2009

A student in my Entrepreneurship class recently made me aware of the site: “Let me Google that for you” .com (LMGTFY). As the name of LMGTFY implies, the site shows you how to search Google if you follow the simple steps listed on the site. I showed the website in class, and one student immediately [...]

Knock-Off Awards

March 28, 2009

Shame on you. That’s the purpose of Plagarius, a German cereremony that awards the most blatant knock-off  artists. The purpose of the awards is to send a message that stealing innovations is not acceptable. Having their innovations knocked off in this manner can be an innovator’s worst nightmare. With some money and determination, they can [...]

What A Business Plan Competition Judge Looks For

March 26, 2009

Successful entrepreneurs write good business plans. Good business plans win competitions. I routinely conduct business plan competitions in my entrepreneurship class. As part of the job, I have to recruit savvy and successful entrepreneurs to serve as judges for each competition. Someone who I have often asked to judge is Dan Brown, President of Loggerhead [...]

Kauffman Foundation Lecture

March 25, 2009

I just finished leading an intellectual property workshop for entrepreneurs here in Houghton, MI. The event was sponsored by the SmartZone, a local high-tech business incubator. The FastTrac TechVenture Program is a learning program administered by the Kauffman Foundation. Here are some of the topics covered in this program: Determine market opportunities and business strategies [...]

Finding The Hidden Customer

March 16, 2009

Invention is defined as “discovery, finding” by The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. National Public Radio (NPR’s) On the Media reports this story about an inventive print newspaper: Print newspapers are either dying, or dead. That is the common wisdom. Yet, El Diario, the largest Spanish speaking newspaper, is thriving .The reason why is because it has targeted [...]

Seeking Female Inventor – Apply Within

March 13, 2009

Bed Bath & Beyond has partnered up with EdisonNation to sponsor a competition that will reward the next great home product, invented by a woman. The competition commemorates the 200 year anniversary of the first patent granted to a female inventor, Mary Kies for a weaving process in 1809. Throughout the years, women have patented [...]


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.