As autonomous vehicles get closer to a market reality, the patent engines will be firing up. What type of patenting activity can we see so far? Searching the USPTO abstracts for combinations of “autonomous”, “self- driving”, “car”, and “vehicle” I found a total of 271 patents. After organizing these patents into groups of their IPC class, I investigated each IPC class to determine if it is emerging or declining technology. Since vehicles such as submarines and airplanes have had autopilot functions since the 80’s there are some IPC classes such as “2D position controls” and “Steering Controls” that are already in decline. In order to find which IPC’s are emerging and which ones are in decline, I charted their growth of each IPC against it’s average over the 34 year period from 1976-2010. This is just a sample of the IPCs that I have investigated, however, it shows that some…
Articles by Joseph Lee
Finding Cooperative partners is a growing trend in business. The benefits of collaboration are increasingly becoming an important part of enhancing a firms capabilities and cost cutting. Analyzing a firm’s patent portfolio can enable a firm to find potential collaborative partners in order to achieve these ends. Joint venture, licensing can then become part of a firms R&D strategy. Even competitors can become valuable cooperative partners. This presentation from my MBA course looks at the reasons for collaborating and compares two firms in the LED industry in Taiwan. Their portfolio analysis demonstrates how they evolved from competitors to cooperators. LINK TO THE PDF: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/Joseph%20Lee%20-%20Coopetition.pdf
Technology Cycle Time (TCT) is an accepted way to evaluate the pace of technological development although it requires some special considerations. A good analogy is how a chainsaw is a good way to cut down a tree, but it also presents many risks, including the inherent risk of felling a large object. Error of judgement, calculation or interpretation could be fatal. Here is some stark evidence that TCT calculations are a reliable indicator of the current technological environment. The speed of technological development is slowing in recent years. Is this only due to the economic situation? Unlikely. TCT in the USPTO shows that the slowing technological development preceded the economic crisis of 2007. Although overall patenting is increasing dramatically, the rate that the technology is replacing itself is actually slowing. Some evidence of this can be seen when you look at the average processor speed in PC’s and notebooks. Although…
National governments use policy making to support R&D efforts at the national level and to encourage R&D cooperation at the international level. This paper investigates the R&D policy making of the Russian government and describes the overall condition. Although Russia has had several challenges in supporting a healthy technology environment, and relies mostly on oil exports to support it’s national GDP, more attention and energy is being put into policy making that can help to foster tech innovation. Since the socialist government’s collapse, the situation has declined and now Russia remains possibly the worst positioned country of the BRICS in terms of innovation inertia. This paper investigates three major periods in the modern Russian R&D system; pre-1990’s, 1990’s, and post 1990’s. Please contact me with questions: joseph.lee.esl@gmail.com Here is a link to the pdf: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/Review%20of%20Russian%20University%20RD%20-%20FINAL%20VERSION.pdf
This presentation reviews several essays on the topic of RFID in supply chain management. Although benefits to using RFID in SCM are limited, it’s an important direction when your company considers “scientific management” strategies (cost-cutting, and service improvement). If you have any questions, please ask me: joseph.lee.esl@gmail.com HERE IS A LINK TO THE PRESENTATION PDF: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/RFID%20in%20SCM%20-%20FOR%20BLOG.pdf PPT IS AVAILABLE BY REQUEST! HERE IS A LINK TO THE ESSAY: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/RFID%20in%20Supple%20Chain%20Management.pdf
User Interface flexibility study for software dates back to the 80’s. Finally some strong models are emerging as the number of general purpose devices and platforms expand. For example, the handheld smart-phones now hold almost full PC capabilities and applications are commonly cross platform for iOS, Android, and PC/HTML. This presentation investigates the important considerations and models for creating a flexible mobile app development process. If you have any questions please email me: joseph@ripplesoftware.ca https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/NPD%20-%20Flexible%20Apps%20-%20BLOGFINAL.pdf
IPC, UPC, ECLA, F-index/F-term are all systems of patent classification. Patent classification is important to organize the granted patents into categories so patent portfolio managers and strategic firm managers can search them as prior art, and for strategic purposes. Concordance tables can help to compare one system to another. In all cases, class is determined by the patent examiner, not chosen by the company. IPC (International Patent Classification System) – 70,000 divisions of the IPC, which is the native patent classification system of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). IPC’s most general classification system consists of a letter (having 8 general classes in total), with A being human necessities. G & H are the most important and numerous high-tech general classifications for physics and electricity respectively. UPC (USPC) (United States Patent Classification System) – The UPC is separate and not directly linked to the syntax of the IPC. …
This short presentation was prepared for ‘Introduction to Technology Innovation Management’ at NCHU. This presentation outlines the difference between design and utility patents using the Apple vs. Samsung litigation in recent years to demonstrate the value of design patents. In this presentation the value of design patents is proven to be high and therefore including design patents in your firm’s IP strategy is essential. If you have any questions, please email me: joseph.lee.esl@gmail.com HERE IS THE PDF: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/Protecting%20Innovation%20Apple%20vs%20Samsung.pdf
This presentation was for my MBA class ‘Strategic Management of IP’ at NCHU. In this paper I outline various patent indicators and their uses, along with example charts from the USPTO. This paper covers indicators of activity, value, economy, and pace of technological innovations, as well as using citations, and litigation data as indicators. If you have any questions please email me at: joseph.lee.esl@gmail.com HERE IS A LINK TO THE PPT: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/Patent%20Indicators%20-%20FINAL.pdf
This paper is written by my professor at the NCHU and I have prepared a PPT presentation and literature review. This paper was published in the journal Nature Biology which is the number one top ranked journal in the category of biology. This paper outlines a proposed method for calculating value of patents in the pharmaceutical industry. The method uses a stochastic Monte-Carlo simulation strategy to account for the uncertainty of life-cycle phase particular to the pharmaceutical industry. In reality, experts are needed to adjust the three main variables of reversion rate, volatility, and drift rate according to the specific conditions of the patent in question. This model of valuation could be useful in patent licensing and sales negotiations. If you have any further questions, please email me: joseph.lee.esl@gmail.com LINK TO THE PPT: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/45852891/Project%20Analysis%20-%20FINAL.pdf
