2. The Problem
“One of the biggest needs for education among innovators is ...
showing them how to safely utilize the vast body of teachings
(8,000,000+ U.S. patents) contained within the prior art as the basis
for further innovation.” - Richard Goldstein, Registered Patent Atty.
“More than 95 percent of patents just sit there, unused.” -- Daniel
Perez
If something is patented but not brought to market then nobody can
introduce it to the world; this prohibits innovation. It is in effect locked
in a knowledge vault.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/anti-troll-marblar-unites-nasa-patents-samsung-
crowdsource/story?id=20661007
3. The research phase of the design process includes checking existing
solutions to expose an opportunity space for design. Designers and
Makers, especially those in small design firms, lack resources to do
adequate research. More, companies rarely want to fund such re-
search.
Watson’s capabilities can aid innovation in design by speeding up the
research process, exposing available design spaces.
Opportunity Space - Designers and Makers
4. Example: “Apple has finally admitted that a British man who left school at 15 is the inventor behind the iPod.”
Research
Image: Kane Kramer prototype
Kramer's prototype digital music
player he invented back in 1979
Source :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1053152/Apple-admit-Briton-DID-invent-iPod-hes-get-
ting-money.html#ixzz2lNViULMn
The iPod is an example of a suc-
cessful product that was designed
using a previous expired patent.
In 1979, Kane Kramer invented a
digital music player.
Apple then found this expired patent, partially due to their
vast resources in research. This example highlights the
power of being able to innovate based upon community
wisdom and prior human innovations. The Ipod ushered
in the change of “Apple Computers” to becoming ‘Ap-
ple’. Using expired patents in the design process took the
company from $500mm in debt and $9.07 a share to over
$540 a share today.
Source: Maclife - How Ipod Saved Apple
http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/lifer_how_ipod_saved_apple
5. Interviews with:
Research
Richard Goldstein has built a career on working with
both individual inventors and start-up companies.
He has given critical advice to more than 10,000 in-
ventors, and has obtained more than1,500 patents
for his clients.
Registered patent attorney, a chemist with decades
of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and
formerly Director of Product Development for a ma-
jor pharmaceutical company.
She has experience with new products - bringing
numerous prototypes to full-scale production and
international product launch.
Roman Tsibulevskiy is a registered patent attorney
with a strong background in computer science.
Roman worked almost exclusively for large corpo-
rations, on patent projects in a variety of emerging
technologies.
He works on projects in a variety of areas, including
mechanical, electrical, and software apps.
6. Interview Insights
Research
Roman - “The approval for patents is so low. There was a documentary on the
USPTO and in the background on a patent examiners wall there was an approval
board that says ‘Approval Rate 0%’ - Patent examiners are actually incented to
NOT approve patents. There is no standardization. It depends on which examiner
you get when you submit the paperwork.”
Pat - “ When non attorneys send an application it is amazing how many get rejected
in one form or fashion. Even when Attorneys submit there is almost always an office
action from the examiners. The approval ratio is so low. How is that possible that
EVERY Attorney that has years of experience doing this is wrong EVERY time. That
is part of the reason patents are so expensive the reworks and time to argue.”
Rich - “The patent landscape has changed and our clients have to worry about
Global selling and competitors. We are making the move towards a unified patent
system where a person can gain protection nationally and internationally. Technolo-
gy has grown to where it can support that type of system and the US has changed
to First to File. It is not an if it is a when.”
7. Design Core
Use Watson’s unique capabilities to foster innovation and promote
progress in the design process for small designer firms.
8. Design Concept
Enable small design firms and individual makers to search through
the existing body of human knowledge and innovation that is housed
in the 8,000,000+ filed patents.
9. Natural Language Processing
Evidence-Based Learning
Hypothesis
Generation
Watson learns the
corpus of 8 million+
patents. Legal patents
are full of language
that is difficult to
understand for non-
lawyers.
A Designer submits
a patent draft to
Watson. Watson then
parces through the
corpus of patents
to find possible
infringements.
A Designer enters a
search query early in
the design process to
gain an idea of what
the current patent
landscape looks like.
Watson generates
a hypothesis as
whether any part
of the designer’s
design infringes on an
existing patent.
Watson uses
evidence-based
learning to combine
current legal decisions
and patent knowledge
to deliver the best
hypothesis as
possible.
Watson learns the
current legal decisions
of the day, updating
the corpus to provide
context for the patent
knowledge.
Watson uses the
evidence-based
learning to suggest
ways to work around
possible patent
infringements.
Watson uses Natural
Language Processing
to inspect the
different patents,
finding applicable
content and returning
the findings to the
designers.
10. Story
Lillian Mills walked into the maker community where
John, Sam, and Amelia were already busy working
on their own pet projects. Lillian waved at them,
even though their backs were turned as she walked
over to her usual space - a cleaned workbench.
She pulled out several tools for her new 3D printer
design. Just last week, Lillian had learned through
the new Watson Patent Search that several key pat-
ents were going to expire next year. She realized
that should could make her own new designs and
share them with the world and the maker community
at large. This one would be able to rotate the base
and allow for an even finer detail than any of other
3D printers that she had ever used before. She was
putting the finishing touches on it as she brought
the small soldering gun closer and closer to the two
copper wires. Lillian took a deep breath, looking over
the two wires before squeezing the trigger and the
hot solder oozing from the gun and solidifying the
wires together.
11. Story
By the end of the day, Lillian was closer looked over
the design. Satisfied with her progress, she cleaned
up and returned home. For the next several days,
Lillian worked on her design, sketching, building,
testing, putting both joy and tears as things worked
and some did not. Months continued to pass until
finally - on one day - everything worked. She smiled,
calling Sam over to have a look at what she was
making. Sam’s eyes scurried over the design, look-
ing, marveling, and nodding at Lillian’s handiwork.
After looking at her design for several moments Sam
says, “Hey Lillian, I have a few designs I would like
to print on your new printer. Could I borrow it for a
couple of days to print them.”
Lillian says, “Sure, I don’t see a problem with it, just
take care of it. I spent a lot of time on it.”
“Fantastic. I’ll take care of it.
12. Story
Sam borrows the 3D printer, prints a few things, and
then returns it back to Lillian. Time moves on and the
year 2014 rolls around. In January, Lillian comes up
short on a few bills as her mother falls and breaks
her legs and she needs help with the medical bills.
Lilian decides to delay getting her 3D printer patent-
ed to help her mother out. In February, she comes
back and resubmits it with the help of a lawyer. A
few months pass and the lawyer Lillian asks for help
says that her design is already patented by Sam.
Lillian snatches up her phone, scrolls through her
contacts, and dials Sam’s number.
“Hello,” Sam’s voice comes in from the other side.
“Sam! What the Hell? You copied my 3D printer!”
Lillian shouts into the phone.
There’s a slight pause as Lillian feels as if a disingen-
uous smile is crawling up Sam’s face.
“Oh That,” Sam gives a small chuckle. “Yeah. It’s
First to File, Lillian, not first to Inve--”
“Damn it, Sam! That was my invention - not yours!”
Sam gives a small click of his tongue and says,
“Whelp, too bad - All the best. Bye Now.”
13. Story
The phone gives a small low lone tone as she just
stood there. A million ideas surge through her head
wondering what she could do. She dials up her law-
yer and he says there isn’t much she can do other
than design around it. Lilian then goes back to Wat-
son, and punches in her design once more. This
time, Sam’s patent shows up as well as possible
alternatives on how she could design around it.
She sees one in particular that inspires her on how
she could change it and even make it better. Fortu-
nately, Lillian is clever and she uses the patents to
change the design to resubmit it and get the patent.
15. Process
1. Idea generation and narrowing down on core
2. Research, primary (interviews), secondary examples.
3. Core refinement, sketching, ideating on big ideas.
4. Deliverable construction.
18. Appendix: Additional Research
Public domain and failure of the patent system to meet its Constitutional mandate. - Richard Goldstein
Now, here is how the patent system has failed to meet this Constitutional mandate.
• It is a fundamental purpose of the patent system to – in essence – advance innovation by placing expired patents
into the public domain so that innovators can build upon them to create more innovation.
• Unfortunately, it is a rare innovator that can tell an expired patent from an unexpired patent!
• As a result, innovators looking for solutions to problems are shy to access the vast knowledge base found in the
patent record – because if they found ideas they like, they wouldn’t know that they could safely (without being
sued for patent infringement) build upon them. In addition after they conceive an idea, if they research it and find a
patent with a similar idea as theirs, they are more likely to give up (and stop innovating), believing that they “can’t
do it, because it’s patented” – even if the patent they found is actually long expired!
• Accordingly, the present system fails to effectively meet the promise of advancing “science and the useful arts”.
Thus, my two assertions:
1. An expired patent technically in the public domain isn’t (as a practical matter) in the public domain, unless the
public readily knows it’s in the public domain.
2. One of the biggest needs for education among innovators is not teaching them what qualifies for a patent or
what qualifies for a trademark (as is conventionally done), but showing them how to safely utilize the vast body of
teachings (8,000,000+ U.S. patents) contained within the prior art as the basis for further innovation.
19. Appendix: Additional Research
Value to the marketplace
“PwC and other sources attribute 80% or more of the market value of S&P 500 companies to intangible assets,
primarily intellectual property rights. “ - Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2012/04/26/an-opportunity-to-lead-on-intangibles/
“It is well known that IBM receives more US patents than any other company. The company also abandons more
patents than any other company.”
- http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2012/03/ibms-patent-abandonment-strategy.html
20. Appendix: Additional Research
Search results from USPTO -- Search
Query : “ I want to look at achieve-
ments and televisions from 3d print-
ing”.
This highlights the limitations for the
status quo of patent searches.
21. Appendix: Additional Research
Search results from Google Patent
-- Search Query : “ I want to look at
achievements and televisions from 3d
printing”.
This highlights the limitations for the
status quo of patent searches.
22. Appendix: Persona
Name: Lillian Mills
Age: 36
Background: Lillian Mills has, as long as she could remember liked to tinker with different things, like Legos, Ki-
nect. Lillian’s father, an engineer, was her inspiration to make these several things. During college, Lillian underwent
a crisis wondering if she really wanted to be an engineer, debating with herself if she really wanted to do this. She
concluded that it was, but that she wasn’t going to be a traditional engineer. She instead wanted to work within the
DIY community and help educate children in the same way she felt. She finished her degree, mostly at the pressur-
ing of her parents. She is currently working for a small engineering company making the tubing in bicycle tires. She
doesn’t really care about it, but it pays for the bills.
Personality: Lillian is an explorer and a tinkerer. She enjoys taking things apart more than putting them back togeth-
er and her workshop typically has bits and pieces scattered throughout. While she can be very kind to people when
she wants to even letting others to use her projects, she gets very irritated if someone touches something that is
incomplete and in progress.
Goals & Challenges:
Teach children how to make cool stuff
Become fully sufficient on just “making things”
Wanting to make something that really helps the world. - Not sure what that is yet. . .
