TRIGGERS OF

INNOVATION

WEEK 7
All innovation is initiated because of an external force
that causes people to want to change what they are
doing for one of four reasons .
TRIGGERS OF INNOVATION
 Customers

 Customers are the most important stakeholders in

innovation management, because ultimately
innovations are developed to meet their
requirements.
The aim of identifying innovation potential
is to identify needs that are
•very important from the customer's point
of view,
•currently not or only under fulfilled, or
•which will be very important in the future.
 Market setting

The analysis of competitors

can also lead to new ideas,
but they will probably be less
innovative as they are mostly
copies.
Trends and future projections
 They offer many
opportunities and scope
for innovation. The
analysis of trends and
their effects on your
company and your own
industry identifies many
innovation potentials for
the future.
 New Technologies

 New technologies such as

new material technologies
or new process technologies
offer immense potential for
new products.
Strengths and competencies

The company's current strategic

analyses also provide potential for
innovations, above all the analysis
of strengths. The aim is to find out
how current strengths can be
exploited in terms of skills and
resources. 
 Digitization

 The numerous new

technologies around the
topics Internet of Things,
Virtual Reality, Augmented
Reality, Big Data and
many more offer many
opportunities to radically
renew the business model.
 Conclusion - Identification of
innovation potential
 As the presentation of the innovation triggers shows, there are many sources,
ways and possibilities to find opportunities for innovation. They are infinitely
available and thus there are also many opportunities to successfully
differentiate from the competition and to build up further pillars for a secure
future. To achieve this, companies must focus on a well thought-out design of
the front end of the innovation process. The declared goal must be that all
potentials and thus sources of innovation are continuously, systematically and
methodically screened in order to gain a large lead with new and better
solutions.
 MANAGING INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
THE EUIPO (EUROPEAN UNION INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
OFFICE )OFFERS INSIGHTS FROM ITS RECENT STUDIES
ABOUT THE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC
PERFORMANCE. WHETHER DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY
IN-HOUSE OR ACQUIRING IT FROM EXTERNAL
SOURCES, IP RIGHTS HAVE A CENTRAL ROLE TO PLAY
IN EVERY COMPANY’S JOURNEY TO THE MARKET.
A recently published study pdf, Intellectual property rights
and firm performance in the EU, from the European Union
Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European
Patent Office (EPO), confirms the strong, positive
relationship between a company’s ownership of different
types of IP rights and its economic performance.
According to the European Commission, SMEs
represent 99 percent of all businesses in the EU.
When controlling for relevant factors, such as
country or industry sector, SMEs that own IP rights
have a 68 percent higher revenue per employee than
those that do not own any IP rights.
Developing an IP Strategy
What Does Intellectual Property
Law Protect?

Intellectual property law allows owners,

inventors, and creators of intellectual
property to protect themselves from
unauthorized use of their property.
Patents protect an
inventor's creation, while
trademark protection
safeguards distinctive
words, names, symbols,
sounds, and colors used
to distinguish one
business's products and
services from another.
Steps to Develop Your Company's
IP Strategy
1. Let your Company's Size Guide
You
 First,
your company's size and structure should
guide your IP strategy. If you have a small
company with only a few employees working on
an invention, for example, you might not need a
formal IP strategy.
2. Establish Guidelines for
Creating Intellectual Property

You should list each person involved in

creating the work and outline exactly
what type of intellectual property
protection you seek.
Fortunately, it's fairly easy to search for
trademarks, patents, and copyrights online.
Still, there are many sources you will need to
consult, so having professional help to
search might be a better option for you.
 Youdon't want to develop products that are not
protectable or plan to market a product that the
creator isn't free to develop. Your IP strategy
should consider whether or not the company can
afford this preliminary intellectual property search.
3. Analyze Your Competitive
Advantage and Barriers to Entry

One of the first questions you should

answer before you invest in creating any
kind of intellectual property is whether or
not you can reap the rewards of your
work in the marketplace.
The market climate for your product or service will dictate how and
if you develop intellectual property and which kinds of intellectual
property to develop. Some questions to ask yourself include: 

• What's the value of the product or service you want to protect? 

• In the current market, would you be able to make a good return
on your investment?   
• What is the competitive market?
• How do competitors market their product or service? 
• Are there complimentary industries in the market you might be
able to tap into? 
4. Analyze Third-party Interactions

 Any third parties who could potentially be involved in any portion of

the development of the product or service being protected should be
considered in developing your IP strategy.
5. Audit Your Intellectual Property

 Conducting an audit of your existing intellectual property

materials should be a part of your IP strategy
development.
 Be sure to include utility patents, trademarks, copyrights,
and design patents and the ownership and historical
relationships related to these properties.
 In Summary
 Companies of all sizes should focus time and energy on having a strong
understanding of the intellectual property process, which can help you
save time and money when developing a product or service and
obtaining intellectual property protection.
 Bydetermining your goals and evaluating your IP strategy for future
success, you will better understand the environment your company is
entering. A company can spend a lot of time developing a product or
service.
 Anequal amount of time should be spent developing your IP strategy to
ensure the maximum return on your intellectual property investment.