Potatoes and Patents
Patents, Potatoes and Pomegranates
“I remember thinking- there cannot be anything clever in delivering beans…” That was the reaction of Lucy Wojcik in 2014 being interviewed for the job of IP attorney at Ocado, an online supermarket company in the United Kingdom.
It does furrow eyebrows when considering the part, if any, IP would play in a company that grows vegetables and fruits and then distributes them as meals, but now Ms Wojcik has a decidedly different view, https://patentstrategy.managingip.com/Articles/110?from=daily. As she came to find out even in the supermarket business, “… as soon as you have problems that need solutions and engineers, you are generating IP.”
The Ocado and its emphasis on IP serves as today’s model of how to maintain a competitive presence today and tomorrow. With very few exceptions, a company today needs a strong R&D/IP culture to survive. It must be an integral of the conduct of business, a primary consideration in company strategic planning. It should be the source of new, competitive products and services as well as the mechanisms for protecting those products from competitive inroads. A comprehensive tour de force for the “how to” is Perpetual Innovation™ A guide to Strategic Planning. Patent Commercialization and Enduring Competitive Advantage by Hall & Hinkelman available at Amazon and Lulu.