B. Trademarks and Other Marks

The Lanham Act defines a mark as "any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof."

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recognizes four types of marks:

1. Trademarks

• A trademark is "used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others."

• The trademark is protected by federal statutes and registered with the Patent and Trademark Office.

2. Service marks

• A service mark is associated with services rather than goods.

3. Certification marks

• A certification mark indicates that the marked goods or services meet standards or services established by the mark's owner, for example, Good Housekeeping.

4. Collective marks

• A collective mark identifies members of a group such as an organization, union, or association.

Under the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988, beginning November 16, 1989, application for a mark can be made before any use has taken place.

A mark does not have to be registered, but the symbol "® " or the notice "Reg. U.S. Pat. and TM Off." should be used with registered trademarks and "TM " or "Trademark" with non-registered marks.

C. Copyrights

• A copyright generally prevents reproduction of a copyrighted work for the life of the author, plus 50 years.
• A copyright is the exclusive right to reproduce, publish, and sell an original, creative work in some tangible form.
• Copyrights can be given for literary works; dramatic works; musical works, including any accompanying music; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and sound recordings.
• A copyright protects expressions, not ideas. A potentially patentable idea expressed in a copyrighted text may be used by others.
• For works created after 1989, copyright notices are not necessary (although they are recommended).
• The copyright notice has three elements: (1) the copyright symbol © , the word "copyright," or the abbreviation "copr."; (2) the year of first publication; and (3) the name of the copyright owner.
• A copyright notice can appear any place in or on the work as long as it can be readily seen.
• Copyright registration is not a condition for protection but is a prerequisite for an infringement suit.
• Copyrighted material is registered with the copyright office at the Library of Congress

D. Trade Secrets

• Trade secrets have no precise definition, but to be protected by the courts, they must be secret, substantial, and valuable.
• The secret can be almost anything as long as it is not generally known in the trade or industry to which it applies.
• A trade secret provides its owner with a competitive advantage. It may be a formula, process, know-how, specifications, pricing information, customer lists, supply sources, merchandising methods, or other business information. It may or may not be protected by other means.
• Trade secrets have no time limitations.

 Comparison of Means of Protecting Ideas

• Many ideas that are protected as trade secrets cannot be patented.
• On the other hand, an item that is patentable can theoretically be protected as a trade secret.
• If the idea can be easily discovered through reverse engineering, however, a patent is the only practical choice for protection.

CREATIVITY

Nature of Creativity:

Creativity is the ability to produce new and useful ideas through the combination of known principles and components in novel and non-obvious ways.

Models for problem solving:

• Trial and error.
• Planning/decision-making process (analytical reasoning)
• Creative process

Creative Process:

1. Preparation.

1. structure the problem,
2. collect all available information.
3. understand relations and effects,
4. solve subproblems, and
5. explore all possible solutions and combinations that may lead to a satisfactory solution.

2. Frustration and incubation
3. Inspiration or illumination
4. Verification

Brainstorming and Other Techniques for Creativity

Brainstorming

• Modern method for "organized ideation"
• First employed in the West by Alex Osborne in 1938
• The essence of brainstorming is a creative conference, ideally of 8 to 12 people meeting for less than an hour to develop a long list of 50 or more ideas.
• Suggestions are listed without criticism, one visible idea leads to others.
• At the end of this session participants are asked how the ideas could be combined or improved.
• Organizing, weeding, and prioritizing the ideas produced is a separate, subsequent step.

"Tear-down" Approach

• Used by two people.
• The first person (person A) must disagree with the existing solution to a problem and suggest another approach;
• Next, person B must disagree with both ideas and suggest a third;
• Then person A must suggest yet another solution
• This "cycle continues until a useful idea clicks."

"And-also" Method

• Person A suggests an improvement on the subject under study; person B agrees, but suggests a further improvement; this sequential improvement "continues until a sound solution is reached."

 Group technique by W. J. Gordon,

• A team explores the underlying concept of the problem. The method encourages finding unusual approaches by preventing early closure on the problem.
• A team of six meeting for about a day on a problem.

 Premeditated Approaches

• Individuals are given a description of a problem and required to list solutions in advance of group effort.
• In the simpler, "each participant has to have a certain number of solution ideas, say 17, to the problem before he is allowed to attend the meeting."
• In a more complex version (known as the "CNB method"), each member of a team is given a notebook with a problem statement and supporting material a month in advance.
• Each day during that month the team member writes one or more ideas in the notebook,
• At the end of the month selects the best idea along with "fruitful suggestions for further exploration."
• A problem coordinator collects and studies notebooks and prepares a detailed summary for distribution; if necessary, all team members then participate in a final meeting.

"Attribute listing" approach

• A person lists attributes of an idea or item,
• Then concentrates on one attribute at a time to make improvements in the original idea or item.

 "Forced relationship" approach

• It tries to generate new ideas by creating a "forced relationship" between two or more usually unrelated ideas or items.

 Characteristics of Creative People

• Self-confidence and independence.
• Curiosity.
• Approach to problems.
• Some personal attributes.

• more comfortable with things than people,
• have fewer close friends, and are not "joiners."
• have broad intellectual interests.
• enjoy intellectual games, practical jokes, creative writing, and are almost always attracted by complexity.

Providing a Creative Environment

Creative people are most effective in an org. that will

• tolerate idiosyncrasies,
• remove as much routine regulation and reporting as feasible,
• provide support personnel and equipment as required, and
• recognize and reward successes.

Creativity and Innovation

Invention (the creative process) only produces ideas. They are not useful until they are reduced to practice and use, which is the process of innovation.

5 kinds of people needed for technological innovation:

• Idea generator-the creative individual
• Entrepreneur-the person who "carries the ball"
• Gatekeepers-bring in essential information
• Program managers-who manage without inhibiting
• Sponsor or Champion-the person, often in senior management, who provides financial and moral support

MAKING R&D ORGANIZATIONS SUCCESSFUL

R&D and Business Strategy

Technology strategy should encompass research, product and process development, and manufacturing engineering.

• Base Technologies, These are the technologies that a firm must master to be an effective competitor in its chosen product-market mix. They are necessary, but not sufficient.... The trick for R&D management is to invest enough-but only enough-to maintain competence in these technologies.

• Key Technologies. These technologies provide competitive advantage. They may permit the producer to embed differentiating features or functions in the product or to attain greater efficiencies in the production process.

• Pacing Technologies. These technologies could become tomorrow's key technologies.

Evaluating R&D Effectiveness

1. Ratio of research costs to profits.
2. Percentage of total earnings due to new products.
3. Share of market due to new products
4. Research costs related to increases in sales.
5. Research costs ratio of new and old sales.
6. Research costs per employee.
7. Ratio of research costs to overhead expenses such as administrative and selling costs.
8. Cash flows (continuing evaluation of the pattern of outflows for research expense and actual and projected inflows from resulting revenue).
9. Research audits
10. Weighted averages of costs and objectives
11. Project profiles

 Support for R&D

1. Technician support to carry out repetitive testing and other functions not requiring a graduate engineer or scientist
2. Shop support of mechanics, glassblowers, and carpenters to produce test and research equipment based on researchers' sketches
3. A technical library with technical information specialists conversant in the fields of the company's interest and willing and able to suggest sources to researchers and structure and run searches in the appropriate data bases for them
4. Technical publication support, including typing, editing, and graphical support to simplify researchers' production of reports, technical papers, and presentations
5. A flexible, responsive system for approving and acquiring equipment as needed by researchers
6. Ample computer facilities conveniently available to researchers, and programming assistance to provide consultation and programming to those researchers not wishing to do it themselves.