Innovation is not about Beanbags

In the 1980s, Japan was hailed as an “economic miracle”. There were best-selling books such as Ezra Vogel’s “Japan as Number One: Lessons for America” and SONY President Akio Morita’s “Made in Japan”. American electronic and automobile manufacturers were caught by surprise by the success of Japanese manufacturers.

One thing that became apparent on visits to Japanese factories was that they used impressive manufacturing robots. American manufacturers raced to catch up. They invested in expensive robotics. This was done without looking at any of the less-visible aspects of the Japanese miracle. The investment in robots was an increased expense that did not yield the ultimate competitive benefits in terms of quality or productivity that justified the expense incurred.

I attended a conference in China where one keynote speaker from a large Western multinational corporation described their approach to innovation. We heard about the more than 100 years of history, the thousands of employees and the billions spent on R&D. Then we heard about the big plan for innovation. A team would be given 5 weeks to focus on bringing innovative projects. They would be given beanbags.

Still underestimating China?

The Economist magazine has a piece this week entitled "Patent Fiction". They take issue with the findings in a Thomson Reuters' report "China IQ (Innovation Quotient)" that looks at the latest data on the growth of invention patent applications.

It is funny how they trot out the old quantity-versus-quality cliche. I predicted that response 4 years ago when this shift was becoming apparent. It indicates a dangerous level of complacency.

Graphene - lessons for British innovation

Today's Financial Times has an article with the headline "Asia ahead in race to develop graphene". This is a technology that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer described as a "great British discovery". However, the UK has only filed 101 of the 11,372 patents and patent applications filed worldwide in the field of graphene - a mere 0.9% of the total. Asia has filed 7,318.

No doubt: China is a World Power in Patents

I saw it reported in the Economix blog of the New York Times that China is about to take the global lead in patent application filings.

There is nothing surprising about this.

China is top in chemical invention patents

I see that according to the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), China is now the top issuer of patent applications in the field of chemistry. It passed out Japan, the former number 1.

A further significance of this, according to the article is that 35% of all invention patents involve chemical substances.

Managing IP in China

In a previous posting on managing intellectual property in China, I said I would outline some practical steps involved. An integrated approach is required to the multiple elements that make up the "secrets to success".

IP in China

How many times have you heard the following two linked statements?

(1) "We cannot afford to ignore China with its population of 1.3 billion people"
Followed by
(2) ".. but we cannot avoid being ripped off because they have no respect for intellectual property".

Both stereotypes are wrong. They serve as an excuse for bad business and bad management.

Ten reasons for a separate IP commercialization business unit

In the past 2 years, there has been a strong movement among corporate IP professionals to promote the office of Chief Intellectual Property Officer (or CIPO). I understand the reasons for this. I also support the move to shine the spotlight on intellectual property management and to give it a central role in firms.

However, I know it is going against the tide of my colleagues in the industry to suggest an alternative structure to centralization of the management of IP.