Innovation is a major business booster. Therefore, knowing how to obtain and profit from intellectual property efficiently has become vital.
The former Director of Innovation at AT&T, Sam Zellner is CEO of idea and innovation management platform Inspired IP. Recently, he showed up on the Jon Hobbs Podcast to provide some highlights of his path and expert tips on turning immaterial concepts into intellectual property assets.
Sam’s Second Act: How Telecom Led to His Expertise in Innovation
Sam’s path in telecoms invention started in the early years of cellular technology, with over 200 authorized patents to his credit. He questioned the presumption that with mobile communications exact location tracking was either impractical or not required.
Going against this, by integrating network-based triangulation and early GPS methods into cellular systems, Sam enabled accurate positioning, which is crucial for services like 911 emergency responses.
He also addressed privacy issues by creating mechanisms letting individuals manage access to their location information.
Sam’s ideas fundamentally changed cellular networks into platforms for dynamic, location-aware services, therefore impacting current mobile technology.
This offers valuable lessons for organizations looking to build robust innovation programs and protect their intellectual property.
“When you start working with new technologies, you allow your barriers to thinking creatively and what’s possible to expand,”
The Evolution: From Patents to Products
During his tenure at AT&T, Sam’s team pioneered a unique approach to patent management.
“We treated patents as products,” Sam reveals, describing how business people managed the entire process from idea generation to monetization.
The successful results from this creative approach included Google buying location-based technology patents.
The Challenge of Innovation Management
Sam notes that effective innovation calls for far more than simply holding brilliant ideas. Having managed corporate innovation initiatives as well as patent creation, he found several strategies for different goals based on his experience:
- Patent-focused innovation: Typically looks 8-10 years ahead
- Corporate innovation: Targets implementation within 1-3 years
- Idea sharing methods: Private sharing often proves more effective than public crowdsourcing
As he points out,
“Innovation’s messy, and you’ve got to understand that when you go into it,”
Why Did Sam Build Inspire IP?
Understanding the difficulties companies and inventors have controlling innovation, Sam created InspireIP, a SaaS platform meant to simplify the whole innovation process.
The platform offers:
- Idea Capture and Collaboration: Enables employees to submit ideas easily via a centralized platform, accessible on laptops or mobiles, fostering real-time teamwork with inventors, committees, and external counsel.
- Invention Disclosure Management: Automates processes from submission to approval, therefore simplifying the development and submission of invention disclosures using easy forms.
- AI-Powered Prior Art Search: offers an optional artificial intelligence tool to check prior art, therefore enabling innovators to certify uniqueness without requiring its employment.
- IP Portfolio Management: Offers dashboards and reports to track patent progress, inventor performance, and portfolio value, optimizing IP strategy.
- Workflow Automation: Automates tedious chores, including reviews and patent searches, therefore saving manual work and accelerating approvals.
- Integration with Existing Tools: Keep innovation within known processes by syncing with systems such as Microsoft 365, Slack, and Gmail.
Final Note
“There’s no shortage of good ideas,” Sam suggests, “What’s needed is an effective process to help those ideas get through the pipeline and implemented.”
Organizations continue to navigate the complex landscape of innovation and intellectual property, and tools like InspireIP are becoming increasingly vital.
For those interested in learning more about innovation management and intellectual property protection, watch the full interview now!
