A lot to learn from IBM

A A

Darlington Jose Hector : Jan 16 2012, 02:07 IST

Winning patents by the dozen is not what Indian companies are known for. The situation looks very stark if one were to look at a firm like IBM, which won a record number of US patents in 2011, bringing up its 19th straight year on top. No surprises there. The world’s biggest computer-services provider won 6,180 patents last year, according to data compiled by IFI Claims Patent Services. Samsung Electronics was second, its growth outpacing IBM, while Canon replaced Microsoft for the third spot. Panasonic moved up to the fourth position while Toshiba rose to the fifth place.

IBM has a 250-person team managing its patents, and it provides training for more than 8,000 inventors. They record about 20,000 breakthroughs annually, and only some are submitted for patents. Needless to say Indian companies are nowhere in the picture, and that’s a matter of great concern. Before we call ourselves a superpower it would make immense sense to take a look at our ability to invent and innovate. It would be pretty safe to assume that India as a country has a long way to go before staking claim to being a provider of pedigree.

IBM has been a pioneer in this regard and there is much we can learn from it. They are way ahead of close competitors like HP and Oracle in this regard. According to IBM, the fountain of innovation is not coming from a solitary source; more than 8,000 IBM-ers residing in 46 different US states and 35

... contd.

Ads by Google

Single Page Format

1 | 2 | 3 | Next

Previous Story Hard times Next Story Beware! you’ve got spam

Reader's Comments (4)| Post a Comment

Innovation in India

namas | 26-Nov-2012Reply | Forward

Its rightfully said in the arctlicle that it need the right ecosysytem & cannot just happen . Today in majority Indian schools students just focus 100% to cram & reproduce for high "MARKS" to land so called top rung colleges . Top rung colleges so called because they get Multi nationals call at their doorstep to place their students & offer hefty salary package.Here we are talking about majority of institutions not the exceptions ,because these create the max impact about which we are talking about Such a student feels they reached end of their search & life is made. So you see in general what drives innovation at schools & colleges . With such preoccupation of colleges there is very little interraction between industry & colleges which is vital for value added innovation. Industry in general are too engrossd & preoccupied overcoming existing problems to deliver growth & profitability that there is very little thought for innovation.So we should move from a culture of firefighters to one of planners, developers & innovaters. First thought process has to change. Every great innovation has its origin in the thought. We should start changing the thought process at schools, colleges & Industry all simultaneously.We should light that fire which should be kept burning In a matter of time the result will speak.

abcd

Amit Gupta | 17-Nov-2012Reply | Forward

it would make immense sense to take a look at our ability to invent and innovate. It would be pretty safe to assume that India as a country has a long way to go before staking claim to being a provider of pedigree.

Winning patents and creativity

Amal Shah | 22-Mar-2012Reply | Forward

Indians cannot win patents in a big way until the govt. rethinks its laws on taxation and simplifies business reporting regulations. Patents is about creativity and this comes from having a free stress free working environment. With a huge engineering workforce, a mammoth SME base, Indian entrepreneurs can deliver lots of patents if they are given the opportunity, by simplifying business reporting. Allowing SME's to concentrate on their core abilities, would unleash their creativity and produce far more revenues than the present bureaucratic structure does.