Perpetual Innovation

Category: innovation

  • 39 Most Tantalizing Business Cards

    39 Most Tantalizing Business Cards:

    Some really cool (and a couple rather obnoxious/risque) business card concepts.

    Thinking of being innovative???

    How about this.

    1. Come up with a cool design patent.
    2. Then come up with a way to represent that design on a business card.
    3. Then come up with a design patent on the business card.

    Hmmm…???

    ‘via Blog this’

  • IBM and China. #1 in the world of Patents

    IBM is again the patent king with the most patents issued. Now just under 6,500 issued in a single year. That’s issued, not applications.


    IBM

    •Celebrated 101 years since its first patent
    •In 2012 was its 20th year as most US patents
    •In 2012 received 6,478 patents! (not applications!)
    •Spent $6B on R&D  … roughly $1m per patent.
    •IBM makes $1B+ per year on IP sales/licensing!
    => That is almost pure profit$!

    This is a fun article about the big patent companies and IBM’s Watson system beating out the best and the brightest on the show Jeopardy. 

    In the meanwhile, China has moved up to the busiest patent office in the world! It was only a couple years ago that they were 5th and not long prior to that they they were not a signatory on IP treaties!..


  • Concrete Tents! Wow. Up in a day.

    This is really cool.

    Make a concrete Tent, a BIG tent over a few hours time.

    Concrete Tent: http://www.concretecanvas.co.uk/index.html

    It uses a concrete canvas technology. Simply put it in position — in this case inflate the tent. And then moisten the canvas. Let it dry and you have a hardened shelter. Put sand around it, and you have a hardened bunker.

    Pretty cool.

    Look at the video with ~1.5m facebook <likes>…

    Winner of a whole bunch of innovation awards including a couple awards from insurance companies and:

    • 2011 Most Innovative Product, MIP Expert’s Choice
    • 2005 World Changing Idea Award, Saatchi & Saatchi
    • Material Connection’s 2011 Material of the Year Award
    The video says that it lasts 10 years or more. Seems like painting it would give it a really long life.
    Lots and lots of uses. Ditches, Slope/landslide protection, etc.
    There is a 2007 patent application on the material/canvas: 20100233417.

  • Ethanol Producer Mag — Strategies for Collaboration in Innovation

    Ethanol Producer Magazine | EthanolProducer.com:

    Strategies for Collaboration in Innovation

    This is a short, but concise article on collaboration and strategic partnerships in the agrofarm business.
    In forming agreements of sole supplier, independent contractor & R&D agreements, it is clear that clairvoyance would be best to make these decisions!:-) 
    Unfortunately, in farming, as in many things in life, you make your bets in advance when you make your agreements and when you sow the seeds. And then you wait to see if it was the right bet given the weather appears on the horizon. 
    You might hedge your bets with revenue insurance and such, but your bets are pretty well planted in the ground with the seeds.
    In this article, it’s not so much the farm as the bins to store grains in, but the concepts and strategies still apply.

    ‘via Blog this’
    http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/9101/strategies-for-collaboration-in-innovation

  • DOW’s Solutionism. !:-)

    Dow Solutionism:
    This is a very cool concept from DOW.

    Solutionism… Kinda a cure for consumerism, where it’s all about how much you can consume in your lifetime.

    Maybe this should be one of the cures for consumerism, one of the great Social Irresponsibilities?

    Interesting idea. Work backwards from each problem — and the associated solutions to them — into helping address the root cause of the original problem.

    Generally we tend to symptom solutions, not real solutions.

    Pretty cool ads for greening up the Olympics as well.:-)

    Solutionism. I like it.
    www.DOW.com/Solutionism/
    ‘via Blog this’