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Build and Test Prototypes
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- Ramp Up Production and Run Market Tests
- Launch the Product
- EXERCISE
- 10.8 Protecting Your Idea
- KEY TAKEAWAYS
Build and Test PrototypesA prototype is a physical model of the product. In the next phase, prototypes are produced and tested to make sure that the product meets the customer needs that it’s supposed to. The team usually begins with a preliminary prototype from which, based on feedback from potential customers, a more sophisticated model will then be developed. The process of building and testing prototypes will continue until the team feels comfortable that it has fashioned the best possible product. The final prototype will be extensively tested by customers to identify any changes that need to be made before the finished product is introduced. Ramp Up Production and Run Market TestsDuring the production ramp-up stage, employees are trained in manufacturing and assembly processes. Products turned out during this phase are carefully inspected for residual flaws. Samples are often demonstrated or given to potential customers for testing and feedback. Launch the ProductIn the final stage, the firm starts ongoing production and makes the product available for widespread distribution. KEY TAKEAWAYS
EXERCISE(AACSB) Analysis Use your imagination to come up with a hypothetical product idea. Now, identify the steps you’d take to design, develop, and bring your product to market. [1] Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger, Product Design and Development, 2nd ed. (New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2000), 3. [2] Tony Ulwick and John A. Eisenhauer, “Predicting the Success or Failure of a New Product Concept,” The Management Roundtable,http://www.roundtable.com/Event_Center/I@WS/I@WS_paper3.html(accessed May 11, 2006). [3] Steve Hannaford, “Slotting Fees and Oligopolies,”http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2003/05/08.html (accessed May 11, 2006). 10.8 Protecting Your IdeaLEARNING OBJECTIVE
You can protect your rights to your idea with a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which grants you “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States for twenty years. [1] What do you need to know about applying for a patent? For one thing, document your idea as soon as you think of it. Simply fill out a form, stating the purpose of your invention and the current date. Then sign it and get someone to witness it. The procedure sounds fairly informal, but you may need this document to strengthen your claim that you came up with the idea before someone else who also claims it. Later, you’ll apply formally for a patent by filling out an application (generally with the help of a lawyer), sending it to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and waiting. Nothing moves quickly through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and it takes a long time for any application to get through the process.
Applying for a U.S. patent is only the first step. If you plan to export your product outside the United States, you’ll need patent protection in each country in which you plan to do business, and as you’ve no doubt guessed, getting a foreign patent isn’t any easier than getting a U.S. patent. The process keeps lawyers busy: during a three-year period, PowerSki International had to take out more than eighty patents on the PowerSki Jetboard. It still has a long way to go to match the number of patents issued to some extremely large corporations. Microsoft, for example, recently obtained its ten thousandth patent. [2] Clearly, the patent business is booming. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued more than a half million patents in 2010. [3] One reason for the recent proliferation of patents is the high-tech boom: over the last decade, the number of patents granted has increased by more than 50 percent. KEY TAKEAWAYS
EXERCISE(AACSB) Analysis A friend of yours described a product idea she had been working on. It is a child’s swing set with a sensor to stop the swing if anyone walks in front of it. She came to you for advice on protecting her product idea. What questions would you need to ask her to determine whether her product idea is patentable? How would she apply for a patent? What protection would the patent give her? How long would the patent apply? [1] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/howtopat.htm(accessed October 28, 2011). [2] Ina Fried, “Microsoft Gets 10,000th Patent,” CNET News, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10157884-56.html (accessed October 28, 2011). [3] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/index.htm (accessed October 29, 2011). Directory: site -> textbooks textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface Introduction and Background textbooks -> Chapter 1 Introduction to Law textbooks -> 1. 1 Why Launch! textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License textbooks -> Chapter 1 What Is Economics? textbooks -> This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License Download 4.55 Mb. Share with your friends:
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