Good Idea! Now find a better one.

Over on Maneuver Marketing, Mike Smock comments on IBM’s announcement that they will publish their patent filings online before the patent is awarded. Keeping such filings a secret from competitors is usually the obvious way to go.

The innovation cornerstone for most enterprises is technology and intellectual property. Of course innovation is not limited to only those things that are patentable, BUT, when you run an enterprise built upon a technology foundation what does it say about their prospects when you TOTALLY discard this advantage?

Now, throwing away an advantage is easily branded as A Bad Thing. But the marketplace is much more fluid than we sometimes give it credit. And the real and perceived disadvantages of IBM’s approach can make way for new opportunities.

For instance, suppose the worst happens:

… a hundred thousand or so predatory firms picking off these innovations, and either reaping the rewards themselves, or screwing up what would of potentially been a winning innovation.

But this would only be true if IBM continued to operate as if they had never changed their patent policy, announcing to their competitors what IBM is working on while operating as if they still had a shroud of secrecy.

But in recognizing that changing their patent policy will change their competitors’ behavior, IBM can use these scavengers and copycats to bolster their own position to both existing and prospective customers.

IBM can market itself as the originator and the leader of new innovation, not the follower. IBM has the people who fully understand the technology and how to take the idea in a patent filing to a solution for a customer.

The more companies that copy IBM’s pre-patent ideas, the more IBM can bolster their position as the best source for new innovation.

The more ideas that are stolen, the more proof that IBM has the greatest minds working on the most lucrative problems. And it all forces IBM to innovate continuously, making creativity and exploration even more fundamental to the company.

IBM could reorient the competitive disadvantage of revealing their patent filings into a marketing and pricing advantage. It’s simply a matter of perspective.

Will IBM see the opportunity… or will it be lost in the bureaucracy?

Tags: IBM, patents, perspective