Creative Solutions Come From....?

Patents are also the only way for a company with a small amount of funds to try to protect and give value to their innovations.

Patent litigation insurance can be purchased.

I have had a VP of a large competitor tell me he did NOT knock off a primary product of ours because of the patents.

Dare I jest and say, "Wake up and smell the flowers"?

I refuse to see doom everywhere.

Thanks - Bo

FlowerPot wrote:

Patents are what come after the creativity to be able to justify the capital to bring the creativity to market.

I just pointed out to a Pysicians Assistant the other day, that his idea for combining a number of items into one would be neat and likely possible, but that to make a sub-$2.00 disposable that had a decent

50%+ GP to get the return to pay for the upfront automation & launch costs of about 5-10 million, the entity putting in the heavy money would NOT do it without patent applications in place.

And for more inspiration, you can get NASA Tech Briefs for free:

It is just another of many sources that can lead to inspiration.

Bo

FlowerPot wrote:

Very nice list, Ed.

Personally, my strong point is lifting ideas from other people. All of my best ideas have been suggested to me by listening to someone else, usually people that other engineers aren't listening to.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Mine usually come when I'm pedaling my bike home.

I'm also reminded that back in the old days of pencil and paper, the first thing I would do every morning was pick up my electric eraser and erase the previous days mistakes, which had also become obvious to me on the ride home or in the middle of the night.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

A big problem for me is myopia. I will get focused on one or a few aspects of a problem and fixate on solutions that meet those criteria, whether they are the most important or not. Usually someone else has to come along to point out that I am missing the forest for the trees.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Wayne & Jerry,

I couldn't agree more. I have solved so many problems in the 10 minutes or so between lying down and falling asleep. There have been many times that I've gotten a sketch from a client in the afternoon or evening, and virtually built it in my head while trying to fall asleep, so that in the morning it's all done, I just have to now go through the motions. It sounds crazy I know but it works for me.

Muggs

Ditto, I find sleeping on a difficult problem often provides the solution. The big problem for me is I work from home, most of the time, so I find myself waking up at about 3 or 4 in the morning and switching on SolidWorks to model the solution. Then come 10am I've gone back to bed for a couple of hours to be awoken by a phone call from a client and me responding and sounding somewhat hazily.

John Layne

LOL! Yeah, I've only done that (wake up form a nap to a client on the other end of the phone) one time. That's why I keep a pad and pencil by my bed.

Muggs

I can just see the motivational speakers now saying "Earn money by sleeping on the job as Muggs and John Layne do."

Bo

Muggs wrote:

I remember reading some years ago about someone (like Einstein, or someone) that found a lot of inspiration just as they were falling asleep. So to capture that, they would hold a glass in hand such that as they fell asleep, it would fall to the floor and awaken them. Then they would write down the ideas that had just happened. I kind of wondered how they knew when to stop and really get a night's sleep. :-)

WT

Judging by Einstein's hair, maybe he didn't get so much sleep.

Bo

Wayne Tiffany wrote:

Interesting! I know that Thomas Edison almost never slept more that 2 hours at a stretch, but did that around the clock.

Muggs

Wayne Tiffany wrote:

The way I heard it was that Edison would sit down in a chair and hold a pencil in his hand. When the pencil fell, he would get up and get back to work. Since either Edison or Einstein would most likely have had real glass glasses, not this plastic stuff, I find it easier to believe the pencil.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"