• What is a patent (definition used in the lecture)?:

  A patent is an exclusion right of limited duration, which the state grants for the disclosure of an invention.

• Name the three highlighted characteristics of a patent and the respective descriptions:

  • Novelty: An invention is considered new if it is not state of the art (current body of knowledge from international patent databases and scientific publication and commercial products)
  • Inventive activity: An invention requires an inventive step. It may not be obvious for an expert skilled in the art.
  • Industrial application: An invention needs to have an industrial application. Invention without industrial application cannot be patented.

• What are the findings of patents according to Häussner et al. (2012)?:

  While preparing a patent application is costly and requires the disclosure of private information, patents have an important signaling value for investors.

• What are the three phases in the patent life-cycle?:

  • Filing - filing the patent form. Summary with the name of inventor, name of invention and abstracts. Full description of the invention with potential uses. Patent Claims: description of realization and abstract formulation for maximal protection. Drawings with explanations.
  • Examination - testing and approving or declining a patent. Formal Examination, to check that form is correctly filled. Research - to which degree can the invention be protected. Examination of criteria novelty, inventive activity and industrial application.
  • Infringement - some company uses the patented technology without a license. In regular court.

• What is excluded from patenting in Germany? Name four examples:

  • Business ideas, plans and regulations. You can’t patent new weed store concept.
  • Plant and animal species. You cant patent a DNA of your new apple.
  • Unethical inventions. You cant patent cats killer robot.
  • Changing a size of an existing machine. You can’t paten a mini version of an existing table.

But some inventions in microbiology, biotechnology and software can be patented.

• Name opportunities and risks related to patenting:

  Opportunities:

  • Control over patent and invention
  • Reputation
  • Monitoring patents of competitors
  • Competitors can’t imitate your product without a license

  Risks:

  • Disclosure of invention after 18 months
  • Expensive application process
  • Annual fees
  • Patent infringements involve high legal expenses and lawyer costs.

• What is the PCT? What does it provide? Define as written in the lecture:

  PCT - Patent Cooperation Treaty. It provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications in different countries to protect the patents all around the world. PCT makes it possible to protect a patent for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an "international" patent application.

• What is a NTBF? Define according to the lecture:

  NTBF - New Technology Based Firm an entrepreneurial organization with the goal to actively create, develop, and/or commercialize offerings based on technology and research, particularly innovative products, processes, applications and services, which is no more than 12 years in operation.

  → NTBF is a firm that identifies opportunity and creates value based on new technology (not always only on patent!).

• Name the Success Factors of New Ventures according to Song et al. (2008):

  • Supply chain integration
  • Market scope
  • Firm age
  • Size of founding team
  • Financial resources
  • Founders’ marketing experience
  • Founders’ industry experience
  • Existence of patent protection

  → Market and supply chain, age, finances, experience of founders and patents

• What is technology push according to the lecture?:

  Technology push is the development and market introduction of a new technology based product or service initiated by new technologies rather than customer needs. Driven with new technologies.

  Example: first processors

  → Technology push: new technology creates new market without direct customer needs.

• What is market pull according to the lecture?:

  Market pull is the development and market introduction of a new product or service induced by customer demand. Driven with market research and unsatisfied customer needs.

  Example: medical masks during covid

  → Market pull: creation of product reacting on direct market demand.

• Name the four levels of the TAS framework according to Terzidis & Vogel (2017):

  • Foundation: what we typically see at universities and labs - pure research, technology comes to existence.
  • Technology application selection: select and application for the technology, define a strategy and mobilize interest
  • Explorative development: research departments in companies are scouting for technologies and sometimes make some improvements and run experiments.
  • Product introduction: product development and start.

• What are the 9 Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) according to the model of NASA?:

  Incrementally from basic principles and technological concept to prototype demonstration, creation of final product and product test in real expluatation.

• What is a technology according to the lecture?:

  A technology is an artifact that performs a specific function by transforming, transporting or storing energy, matter or information.

  → actions with energy, matter and information

• Fill a Technology Canvas on the next page with the historic example of cloud computing given in the lecture:

  Name: Cloud computing

  Core idea: Dynamic development of scalable IT services through shared IT resources over networks.

  Example application: Web shops, web mails, API Management.

  Promise and novelty: On-demand self-service. Scalable IT resources. Back-up services. Consumption-based billing

  Current practice: Each company installs a dedicated client-server environment. The IT department of a company controls the provisioning and adjustment of IT performance "manually".

  Drawing: Cloud system drawing

  Limitations: Data protection, trust in provider is key.