Three steps to realising the value in edge tech
- publish258
- Jun 20, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 7
In edge technologies, why is it so few who are fully realising the potential for innovation and intellectual property, asks Robert Klinski at Patentship
Robert Klinski
Significant value is within reach for the numerous activities that are now being disrupted by edge technologies. Rules for how to practise disciplines such as accounting, legal, education and many others are being re-written.
At present, it is only a few who are fully realising this potential for innovation and intellectual property. Most find themselves missing out or falling short. Such outcomes are by no means inevitable. It is just a matter of how you go about it.
In this age of digital transformation, the prospect of a highly productive three-step strategy is opening up for those who can join up the pieces of disruptive ideas:
Clearly articulate the challenge for your market.
Set a technical problem for your engineers.
Create a series of solutions that you can patent.
As a side effect, such an approach can radically improve the efficiency of patent portfolios in three significant respects:
The chances of patenting an edge technology can significantly improve, reaching close to 90 percent in our experience.
A switch from patents centred on technology to those inspired by the market will bring into focus the few that really make a return, giving more time to shed those that don’t.
Capital risks can also be reduced by investing proportionately more in IP and less in R&D.
In conventional portfolios, only 1 to 3 percent of IP ends up having any significant value. The remainder is a legacy of the days when IP was considered a defensive necessity, rather than an active asset. Edge technologies present a second chance to run portfolios more efficiently.
Decisions about the value of an innovation can be made at the beginning, not after a technology has been created. More responsibility for them falls on business units and less on IP departments.
When the emphasis is on creating value in the market in this way, decisions about whether to invest in IP, as opposed to R&D, come more into focus. By buying in IP, instead of creating their own, companies can significantly reduce their capital risk and create an asset that it is similar in nature to a financial option or derivative. Here they are following the smart money.
The question many investors are starting to ask themselves is: can we save ourselves the risk of losing all our capital, while still retaining the option for a gain on the upside? In other words, instead of investing in a ‘hard asset’, such as equity, can we use a ‘soft asset’ with the characteristics of a derivative? In the case of technology, patents can be a highly effective equivalent.
• The full version of Robert Klinski’s article ‘Innovating with edge technologies’ is available at: https://novaropublishing.com/innovating-with-edge-tech/.
