Instant innovation: from idea to registered patent in 72 hours

By ABB Communications

Organized by the Swedish Embassy and jointly sponsored by ABB and other international companies, the race was held in Shanghai on May 19.

It's based on a series of similar races which began in Sweden last year under the inspiration of Kaj Mickos, a professor at Mälardalen University in Sweden who specializes in research involving innovation processes.

The first Race to Innovation resulted in seven new patents, three of which have since been sold under license to manufacturers. Ten more races in Sweden last year have yielded more than 100 patents, 30 of which have been sold under license.

The Shanghai event was the 11th innovation race and the first held outside of Sweden, and resulted in 17 patents filed by 15 students.

Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger, head of ABB's Research Center in China, supported the race in person as one of the on-site technical experts providing guidance to the three participating teams.

Using the theme, "Better city, better life," which is also the theme of Shangahi's World Expo 2010, many innovations were inspired by environmental concerns.

For example, the teams developed a waste separation system for the home, and a computer-based training game to teach children garbage separation for recycling purposes.

As well, three of the patents were earthquake-related, including an early warning system, a warning system for the home, and a system to detect people buried under rubble.

The earthquake alarm for the home warns people of an impending earthquake by using a simple oscillating mechanism that produces a loud noise. It took less than nine hours to evolve from idea to patent on the very last day of the race.

Many participants thought there wasn't enough time to finish the idea, but ABB experts convinced the team not to give up, so they swung into action.

The following scenario demonstrates how good collaboration can help the innovation process.

1. At 10:30 am, the idea was fleshed out in a few words and the inevitable PowerPoint slide, and sent to ABB China IP (Intellectual Property) counsel James Liu. At the same time, ABB patent attorneys in Sweden also did a patent search.

2. Around noon, Liu sent the patent draft to the Patent Office in Shanghai, where the details were discussed. The final patent application was made shortly afterwards;

3. Meanwhile, the student team prepared a prototype and a professional sales promotion poster.

4. At 17:00, the patent was filed and registered in Shanghai Municipal IP department.

5. At 18:30, the invention was presented to customers and the press.

This shows how important it is to have a well-established internal network to support the creative process of innovation.

For example, when participants needed some calculations and simulations done for another project, colleagues at ABB Research Center in Switzerland sent back the results before the team could sit down to breakfast the next day.

Kaltenegger said that while inventions in such a race cannot compare to the complexity of work done every day at ABB's Research Center, it is strong proof that anything is possible, as long as you believe in your ideas, and are prepared to fight for them.

For more information, contact Grace Nan, ABB Corporate Communications in China.