Value of IEOR 190G

IEOR 190G: Patent Engineering was a great class that I would recommend to everyone in my network, whether he/she is a student or a professional. The reason being is that I learned about the power of patents--as both a driver of innovation and a impediment of innovation :


ENCOURAGING INNOVATION
The original intent of the patent system was to provide inventors with the opportunity to protect their works of innovation. For the most part, patents have done exactly that, allowing their authors to maintain rights to their inventions for 20 years. Furthermore, patent auctions have enabled the free trade of patents, giving inventors the opportunity of liquidating their IP whenever they wish.

While there have been controversy surrounding the inefficiency of the USPTO and the malicious activity following the sale of patents at auctions, these two concepts have pushed potential inventors to continue with their work without fear of another entity stealing their hard work. Thus, the patent system provides peace of mind to the inventor and patent auctions incentivize inventors (on top of the possible sales of the product) to continue innovating.

Learning about how patents encourage innovation is extremely important, as in the competitive world in which we live, patents are essential in protecting and refining our innovations. This class has taught me the importance of filing applications early, clearly defining the invention in the application, and finding/reaching out to the right resources to speed the process along.

PREVENTING INNOVATION
Patent trolls have been around for as long as the patent system has. Since then, all malicious patent trolls (shell companies that have no operating activities other than suing actual companies) have impeded innovation. They have effectively reinstilled fear into the patenting industry by threatening companies with trumped-up lawsuits. For small companies, this could spell death as the settlement fees can consume a significant percentage of resources. For large companies, the financial impact is not as bad, but effects on reputation and resources that could otherwise go to more productive activities are not to be ignored.

Learning this in IEOR 190G is weighs very heavily on me, as the startup at which I am working is wrestling with a potential lawsuit from a patent troll. Learning the methods to combat these malicious entities was extremely enlightening and serves as a great foundation on which to build defenses against external threats.

Collaborative Learning Using Social Media

Collaborative learning is an idea founded on the belief that learning is a "naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves" and "it is through the talk that learning occurs." Many people believe the following about learning:

1. Learning is an active process 
2. Learning requires learners to process and synthesize information
3. Learners benefit when exposed to diverse viewpoints 
4. Learning flourishes in a social environment
5. Learners are required to articulate and defend their ideas
6. Learners converse with peers, present and defend ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question conceptual frameworks, and are actively engaged.

Traditional learning (lecture from a teacher to a student) does not fully meet some criteria and completely fails to meet others. For example, most lectures do not encourage participation, especially those of large class sizes. Most lectures also do not allow students to synthesize information; they generally require students only to regurgitate information in exams. In other words, lecturing is a one-way street that allows information flow to operate in one direction which generally "works" (as it has been for hundreds of years) but is not ideal.

On the other hand, learning through social media meets all 6 criteria mentioned above in the following ways:

1. Participants actively blog, tweet, video-blog, and reply
2. Participants read others' posts and then write their own either in response or separately
3. Social networks are open to people of all ages, races, ethnicity, and religions 
4. Social networks are platforms that create social environments
5. Participants regularly attack, defend, and clarify others' and their own posts
6. Participants have tens to hundreds of people with which they communicate, debate, exchange ideas, question frameworks, and engage

Assignment 11B: Nest Cuts Deal with Devil to Fight Competitor

The term, "patent troll" generally holds a strong negative connotation, conjuring images of an office building empty of employees but filled with cash. However, patent trolls hold the tools necessary to fend off enemies, as can be seen in the case of Honeywell v. Nest.

As many of you might know, Nest is known for disrupting the traditional thermostat business, selling clean, modern-looking, and innovative products. It currently holds more than 200 patents in its arsenal. However, in 2012, it was sued by Honeywell, a major competitor in the thermostat industry, on the basis of patent infringement. According to Techcrunch, the suit "alleges Nest Labs infringes on several of Honeywell’s patents involving thermostats." To fight Honeywell, Nest engaged in a patent licensing deal with Intellectual Ventures (IV).

This controversial move has a number of benefits:

• It allows Nest to keep its current momentum as a fast-growth, innovative tech company.
• It augments Nest's current IP portfolio.
• It protects Nest from IV and other patent trolls from patent infringement cases.
• It protects Nest from its competitors from patent infringement cases.

The last bullet point is extremely critical, especially in the current case against Honeywell. Honeywell sued Nest, demanding that Nest cease and desist as well as pay for damages. This amounts to a huge sum of money and as Honeywell has the financial resources and time to fight Nest, Nest most likely cannot settle. 

Assignment 11A: Technology Adoption Lifecycle

Efrat Kasznik in class talked about this graph, otherwise known as the Technology Adoption Lifecycle (TALC) which depicts the progress of a company's product through its life stages as it relates to IP. The area under the graph is the number of customers using the product.

• In the beginning, people using the product are innovators who are the most excited to try out the new product. These people are generally more educated, prosperous and risk-oriented.
• In the second stage, early adopters are usually be younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders, and less prosperous.
• The early majority are more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbours.
• The late majority are older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active.
• Finally, the laggards are very conservative, the least well-off, the oldest, and the least educated.

As you can tell, the user base of a product grows more conservative, less educated, and less active as time goes on. This trend can be seen in multiple industries; one that comes to mind is the desktop market. As time went on and substitutes became more widely available, the majority of people today who use desktops tend to be of the older generation. 

Assignment 10B: Kirby Ferguson on the Idea of Remix

Good artists copy and great artists steal. Even visionaries like Steve Jobs agree to the concept and idea behind this phrases. However, the controversy begins when these great artists get stolen from. Steve Jobs in 2010 publicly announced a war on Android because he believed that the company had stolen the technology from Apple.

Especially regarding the music industry, we all realize that many products are simply "remixes" of others, incorporating lines of code, lines of lyrics, or components of other products. On one side of the coin, this is clearly copying or stealing the innovation of another. On the other side of the coin, improvements are necessary for advancement. If the human race had not improved upon the original invention of the chair, then we would have constant back pains or even stunted growth.

As such, the patent system should be revised so that the infringement conditions be clearly defined and more reasonably measured. This way, innovation in the form of remixes will not be treated as infringement and thus be welcomed as a source of new inventions.

Assignment 10A: Ellen 'T Hoen on Medical Patents Pool

The Medical Patents Pool is a great idea on paper. It is a voluntary mechanism that lets participating pharmaceutical companies such as Gilead to license its medical patents to allow generic manufacturers to produce and sell the medicine. While Gilead does get a royalty for each sale, the question of whether the costs incurred to research and develop the patent will be covered by these royalties and Gilead's sales.

Even if Gilead does manage to break even, it still must make a certain level of profit in order to satisfy its stakeholders. If it doesn't project that licensing will result in this, then it has no incentive to participate. But it did, which is good news for both parties.

However, in the long run, we must seriously consider Hoen's words. Hoen, at the end of her talk, basically says that pharmaceutical companies must do it now or governments will force them to do it later. This is an ultimatum, not to be taken lightly. With the enormous multitude of countries and forms of government, bio-pharmaceutical companies need only to move their operations to another geographic location to avoid government pursuers.

Assignment 9B: Silly Patent 2 [Method and system for increased realism in video games]

U.S. Patent No. 8,529,350, “Method and System for Increased Realism in Video Games” is owned by a patent troll, White Knuckle. The patent itself involves "remotely updating a sports video game based on real-world events—a player injury or a change in a stadium, such as new grass." The patent covers a "computer 'configured' to 'provide a sports video game' with 'parameters' that can be updated over the Internet."

The funny thing is that White Knuckle did not invent computers, sports video games, the Internet, or software that allows updates from a server. However, it claims to have invented a system that involves all of these components. The USPTO gave White Knuckle the patent rights on the grounds that the specific application of these elements on a single idea (updating sports video games using software over the Internet) is enough to grant White Knuckle the rights.

This is clearly abuse of the patent system by trolls. White Knuckle used this patent to sue Electronic Arts among other video game companies on the basis of patent infringement. The troll, much like the one in my other post, received settlement money from more than a few companies because the patent covers all software that allows for system updates over a live server.