This paper describes a collaborative invention process that is implemented in an R&D site that is a part of a global R&D organization. The process binds coaching and mentoring with targeted management metrics with financial and personal incentives. The social process labeled the CIP patent program is based on Collaboration, Innovation and Professionalism. For more than 2 years, the CIP patent program has increase patent applications submission by 46.15% yearly. The CIP patent program increased the relative contribution of the team, when compared to the global R&D organization, from 18% to 33%. The participating members' increased by 460%. Consequently, the CIP patent program has expanded to additional R&D sites across the globe.
Enterprise IT organizations manage the progress of inventions, such as patent application creation, and foster the creation of innovation and invention. Typical methods [1][2] may entail individuals’ corporate visibility as recognized innovators alongside financial compensation. Personal incentives motivate and cultivate innovation; for example, improving one’s life experience alongside co-working with known innovators. In our case, a corporate level committee examines invention disclosures forms and estimates their value to be expanded into patent applications. Invention disclosures may be disqualified according to prior art, difficulty of understanding the invention concepts and level of uniqueness and non–obviousness. Yet, there are cases in which the quality of the presentation, language and narratives prohibit the ability to conduct proper evaluation. As a result, ideas are lost, contributors are discouraged and the process is regarded as difficult and challenging.
This paper exposes the methodology that we developed and implemented in our R&D site to leverage corporate and individual incentives to foster efficient brainstorming and formal construction of inventions. The methodology provides unified managed framework, termed CIP patent program (Collaboration, Innovation, and Professionalism).
This approach enabled us to demonstrate a 46.15% growth in accepted inventions for patent application submission, compared with a 37% decrease in general. The team partial contribution relative to the overall corporate accepted submissions increased from 18.06% to 33.93% whereas the size of the R&D site relative to the rest of organization is 3.75%. The number of participants increased by 450% whereas the number of coachers increased by 600%. 2
Our presented method consists of several managed steps, as well as assigned coachers and mentors, and accompanied by a quantitative progress measurements conducted by a project manager. Every 3 months, the CIP patent program team defines goals. Goals can be the number of new ideas added to the idea backlog, the number of submitted invention disclosures or the number of new authors. The project manager is communicating the progresses to the R&D team on-site in order to encourage participation, traction and personal visibility.
Beginning with scouting, novice and seasoned members participate in brainstorming sessions in teams consisting on 5 members. The discussions within the groups deal with the challenges that the R&D team may face in the coming two years. The ideas are added to a backlog and used as basis for detailed invention disclosers. Basic drafts are authored by the novice members and improved in structure and form by seasoned members
As mentioned above, a corporate committee evaluates the chances of each disclosure to evolve into a patent application. If approved, the team members assist the legal department to draft the application. If rejected the team members investigate the reasons for the rejection and either improve the invention or the proposal. Approved patent applications are celebrated in a site wide “patent toast” party. In this celebration the inventors describe their experience while emphasizing the resulting benefits, including visibility, financial recognition and being part of an innovative team. 3
Implementing the CIP patent program has shown a 46% increase in the number of submitted patent applications. The CIP program also demonstrated a 460% increase in the number of participating members. The process created a collaborative environment, where novice and seasoned engineers work together toward a common goal. Internal media announcements emphasize the results, as examples for the corporate worldwide. Currently, we are propagating the CIP patent program on other global R&D sites, to foster a spirit of collaboration innovation, and professionalism.