Safeguarding Innovation and Product Registration

This assignment explores the importance of safeguarding innovative ideas in businesses. It highlights the strategies companies can use to protect their intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, and design registrations. The London Essence Company is used as a case study to demonstrate how these techniques can be applied to ensure that innovative products are not copied or used by others without permission.

INNOVATION AND
COMMERCIALIZATION
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Introduction
LO-1: The context for innovation and the difference between invention and innovation
Task-1: Explaining innovation and determining its importance to organizations in comparison
with invention
Task-2: Explaining how organizational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape
innovation and commercialization.
LO-2: Explaining the different types of innovation
Task-1: Explaining the 4Ps of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine and
shape innovative ideas.
Task-2: Explaining developments in frugal innovation and provide examples of how it is used
in an organizational context
LO-3: Discussing the process required to commercialize innovation
Task-1: Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product
Development (NPD) processing for commercialisation of innovation.
Task-2: Building an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access
funding
LO-4: Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages
and disadvantages
Task-1: Evaluating the different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect
knowledge and intellectual property.
Conclusion
References
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INTRODUCTION
Innovation has become the most essential need of the organizations. It is regarded as the
most crucial tool for the growth of the trading units in the current scenario. Innovation implies
constant change which the organization needs to incur to maintain their growth potency in the
open markets. The innovators use smart thinking and implement those ideas into the working of
the organizations to get better results. The innovators do thorough research and then implement
their ideas into creative products. The research paper carries out an intensive analysis on the
innovation and commercialism adopted by the companies these days. There are a few factors that
are responsible for the emergence of innovative ideas such as misconception of people, strategies
related to innovation, and the procedure of innovation that needs to be carried out. The
innovative process provides solution to the different needs of the trading units. The most
essential key factor of innovation is originality. It is said that the business units can only grow if
they adopt innovative strategies and approaches. The competition in the market is increasing at
an alarming rate and to keep one rooted being unique and different is the key to success.
LO-1: THE CONTEXT FOR INNOVATION AND THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN INVENTION AND INNOVATION
Task-1: Explaining innovation and determining its importance to organizations in comparison
with invention
The use of resources in a more efficient manner is also regarded as one of the innovative
techniques. Many people believe that creating something new or providing services which have
not been given before is termed to be innovation but this is not the case, innovation is bringing
changes in the current scenarios such the cost of the production of the product gets reduced or
the cost of rendering the service gets reduced and the quality of the product and the service gets
increased resulting in increase in the demand of the product or service in the market
(Business.gov.au, 2017). This requires that the market survey must be done intensively so that
the needs and requirements of the markets are known well and addressed in a proper manner so
that the necessary modifications could be made in the products or services produced by the
company and meet the demands of the customers. The company is adopting feasible approach to
the changes that are witnessed and acting as per the changing demands of the market which is
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essential for the growth of the company. It must be noted that invention is something new
discoveries are done and it is a onetime process but innovation is a continuous process which
require inclusion of changes which can be done a number of times. Innovation aids the
organization to have a better stand in the competitive market. The company which adopts the
maximum innovative techniques will be able to sustain itself for a longer duration of time on the
competitive market. The company will be in a more able position to see the futuristic demands
and accordingly change strategies and policies so that the company will be able to meet the
changing demands of the end users. It is to be ascertained that there is no such thing that could be
termed to be permanent in this world therefore innovation is considered to be a key factor to
bring about changes that would help the company to survive in the market (Spulber, 2014).
There are two different concepts related to innovation, invention is termed to a fresh new thought
or action where as innovation is considered to be the execution of the new thought or action.
Invention is a sole and lone product or service whereas innovation can be done more than one
way. Invention requires proper arrangement and allocation of resources with minimum risk
factor as it is acquired with continuous trial method but in innovation risk of failures is more.
The difference between invention and innovation can be understood from that fact that invention
is termed to discovering something new which would provides any new information or device.
Whereas as innovation is redesigning the discovery. Innovation is not discovering any new, it is
redesigning and repackaging the old substance into new format and presenting to the world in a
new format.
Task-2: Explaining how organizational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape
innovation and commercialization.
The business unit’s goals, objectives, culture, working technique and leadership get
impacted with the introduction of innovation into the operating system of organization and
change the commercialization aspect of the business enterprise also. The goals and objectives of
the company determine the course of actions that are required to taken to meet the futuristic
ambitions of the company (Business, 2017). The innovation must be in accordance to the vision
of organization so that the goals of the company are met properly. The innovation approaches are
also affected by the principles of the company as well as the working culture adopted by the
company. When the company promotes innovation the employees will be in a more able position
to take risk and try to make their work more efficient by adopting new innovative ideas. In the
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same way the principles of the company also impact on the conductions of the employees. When
the leader supports the employees and motivates them to be different the employees will feel
motivated to try new mode of conductions. In case if an authoritarian approach is adopted by
leader there will be no support for innovation to be implemented in the company, but if the
leader is participative he will encourage innovation. The directive approach adopted by larder
will also help promote innovation in the company. Even the inclusion of a sound coordinated and
well established communication channel will ensure that the innovation process in carried out in
a proficient manner in the company. When there is proper disbursement of information people
come forward to give their valuable insights and provide most innovative solutions to any
problem. The working culture which is being established within the working operations of the
companies must be constructive in nature so that the employees could well connect with other
and propagate the work in a more efficient manner. This will increase a coordinated team work
among the employees which will enable the employees to meet the vision of the company in an
appropriate manner. This could be further enhanced under proper leadership guidance.
LO-2: EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INNOVATION
Task-1: Explaining the 4Ps of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine and
shape innovative ideas.
Innovation implies change which is necessary for the progress of the business unit. But it
might happen that some of the innovative may not be fruitful and could be a total failure but
some can turn to be good one and render profit to the company (Jonathanhalls.net, 2017). The
innovation can be classified into 4 sub heads which are mentioned below.
Innovation funnel is described as the steps that are taken to develop a process or product. The
main motive behind the inclusion of innovation is provide products to the consumers which are
the most economical in nature and satisfies the maximum requirement of the customers. For this
the ideas are collected which go through different process before it gets finally implemented.
After the scrutiny process the ideas are finally implemented and the products are placed to the
customers with new innovation and improved quality.
1. Product innovation: It is well known that the every product is composed of different parts
and elements which need to be of good quality so that assembled product can be of good
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quality. Now days the people are more inclined and influenced towards health content of
the products. Hence London Essence Company has decided to propose a new drink which
is will be healthy with low calories content which will effectively meet the needs of the
customers. As people are more health conscious these day and they are continuously
taking efforts to improve their health by reducing the calories consumption in which the
new product will efficiently meet the need of the customers.
2. Process innovation: The way of production and manufacturing process must be done in
the most innovative way such that the resources available with the company could be
properly utilized to the maximum. The process of production could be innovated such
that the production of the products would take less time, less effort, less labour, less
manufacturing cost, and produce less wastage keeping the quality factor into
consideration. This type of production process will help the company to have a
competitive edge in the market (Emeraldinsight.com, 2017). It is noticed that the cited
company London Essence Company is facing sales issues and the demand of the existing
products manufactured by the company is decreasing so the adoption of such innovative
technique will help the company to reduce its cost and book some loses.
3. Position innovation: The companies must keep on changing the targets set for the
company and try to reach new set of goals and meet the demands of new set of customers
and clients. Take for instance few time back only youth were interested in doing digital
shopping but now days the scene has completely changes people from every age are
actively participating and doing online shopping. The London Essence Company must
also change its target group of end users and explore new customers considering the
different age groups, genders, regions etc.
4. Paradigm innovation: The complete renovation of the production process with bringing
about changes in the technology used by the company is termed to paradigm innovation.
For instance the company can change its accounting process from getting it done
manually to getting it digitalised which will incur huge cost to the cost but will improve
the working of the company. As London Essence Company is a start up company this
innovation cannot be applied in it.
The implementation of innovative ideas must be done after a thorough research and
investigation. The innovative thought or approach must be properly scrutinized. This process is
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called funnelling, and then the best suitable thought that would improve the progress of the
company must be chosen (Driving Creativity and Commercialization, 2014). The application of
innovative funnel will assist in better selection of the innovative thought or action which
compromises of three phases. The first phase is the allocation of thoughts and actions
considering the quantity of thoughts rather than the quality of thoughts. The second phase
compromises of discarding of the less fruitful thoughts after carefully analysing the
implementation of thought in sequence with the resources of the company, risk involved and the
probable returns estimated. Then the last phase of implementation of the best suited thought into
the working of the company so that the goals and objectives of the company are appropriately
met.
Task-2: Explaining developments in frugal innovation and provide examples of how it is used in
an organizational context
There is a modification in the manner of innovation. Frugal innovation is considered to
be that innovation in which the best way of innovation is regarded as one which leads to the
increase in the market share. In Frugal innovation the product is promoted to those who believe
they cannot buy the product due to high prices (Veza.biz, 2017). To meet the needs of such
consumers the price of the product is reduced which enables the company to meet the demands
of other sections of the people who were not previously linked with the target group of the
company’s goals. It also lay emphasis on effective utilization of resources such that less wastage
is rendered and the maximum portion of resources it utilized to manufacture the product. It is
considered to be the best way of commencing innovation in the company. Through this the
quality of the product and the demand of the product could be effectively increased. It can also
be termed as customer centric strategy where the consumer pays less for the consumption of the
product and their saving proportion rises. It must be considered that frugal analysis takes a lot of
investigation and research work. For this proper market analysis must be done to identify the
target group of customers the company is focusing on. It also considers the future proposition
that by changing the shift will the company be able to achieve any substantial profit or not. The
procedure that needs to implement for the production of the product must also be properly
analysed. London Essence Company must also do frugal innovation to set its new target group of
consumers as the company is mainly focusing on youth right now which can be changed or other
groups of people could be added to increase the customer base of the company.
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LO-3: DISCUSSING THE PROCESS REQUIRED TO COMMERCIALIZE
INNOVATION
Task-1: Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development
(NPD) processing for commercialisation of innovation.
Commercial Funnel Process is referred to the purchasing innovation that is made into the
process that the companies to establish and enhance the customers purchasing power of the
products. It is generally used with the new product development process where a number of
different stages are involved to manufacture the product before it finally reaches to the
customers. The different phases of production are often presented with the assistance of funnel.
In this process the products that are used in the initial process of production are eliminated which
becomes difficult to get access to at the later phases of production which becomes a costly affair
as each phase has its own set of limitations and the product is presented to the customers with
best quality parameters (Ziarab, hussain and Sher, 2017). This increases the success rate of the
product in the market that it will be appreciated by the end users as each phase of production of
the product is thoroughly scrutinised and the customers are provided with best quality products.
This process opens new opportunities for the management to take decisions based upon the
performance of the product because of which the allocation of funds could be done
appropriately. All the innovative thoughts go through the process of product concept
development before final implementation of the innovative thought to take place. At this phase
the product is like an open book where even a stranger can also get to know about the product
inside out. Then these strangers are converted into visitors which are known as conversion stage.
After that the lead is generated and in the last phase the product is presented to its end users
where the customers are regarded as the last conversions.
The setting up of a new product in the market is considered to be the most essential factor
for the company as for any trading unit it is essential that the product must be checked
thoroughly so that the customers are provided with quality products. The New Product
Development is considered to the procedure of initializing and developing a new product or
service in the market. This type of development is considered to the elementary steps towards the
development of a product. A new product is considered to the lifeline of the company through
with the company is presenting something new to the customers and it is accepted by the
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customers the profit of the company will increase. There are not too many companies who go for
introducing new products to the customers through the process of New Product Development
because of which they are lagged behind and are unable to make a hold of themselves in the
changing markets. Many researchers have conducted research in the past which reveal that data
related to inclusion of New Product Development into the business to launch a new product. It
was found that most of the products that were launched by the companies where customer centric
and kept the needs and demands of the customers into consideration before manufacturing a new
product. The companies perfectly surveyed the markets and produced the goods that were mostly
done to meet the demands of the customers. This was the only reason for the companies to
manufacture new products. However there is a constant change in the preference of the
consumers which must be considered before rendering investments into production of any new
product as it might occur that the new product could be a complete failure (INSEAD Knowledge,
2017). The new product development process is effluent to determine the occurrence of any
problem in the initial stages of production but it will also be not able to provide solutions once
the production reaches the development stage. The inclusion of new product development ensure
that a clear framework of stages which will enable the company to make proper arrangements for
the proper placing of the product in the market. The launch of a new product is considered to
provide a new edge to the company in between its rivals so utmost care must be taken at the
placing of the product in the market at it could be critical to the company. Even though learning
about the relevance of NPD and its positive implications on the progress of the company a high
incidence in the failure of the products is seen in the markets. It can be cited that in order to save
cost the companies do not follow the proper funnelling process because of which the new
products fail to perform in the markets. The success of the new product is situational and the
companies must analyse the situation and then undertake actions for the production of new
products in the markets by permitting full cycle.
Task-2: Building an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access
funding
London Essence Company is about to manufacture a new drink that will meet the needs of the
health conscious people. For this the company will be requiring funds to bring about innovations.
There are a number of techniques through which the funds could be assessed like personal
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investment, venture capital, angels, business incubators, government grants and subsidies or
bank loans. Some of the ways to get access to funding are mentioned below.
1. Personal Saving: The Company can use its personal saved money for the investments
purpose which is the simplest way of generating funds. In this the company has to bear
all the risks regarding the new project.
2. Crowd funding: The money is collected through accumulating the crowd by using digital
medium. The company makes a website and asks interested parties to fund by making a
trade proposal. It is difficult to collect money through this process especially for new start
companies.
3. Angel Investors: The investors invest in the form of equity shares upon the basis of the
proposal of the company. The proposal of the company must be such that it attracts more
investors. It must be kept into consideration in that the ownership of company gets
transferred to the investors in such case of raising funds (INSEAD Knowledge, 2017).
4. Venture Capital funding: The investors invest huge amount of money in return of equity
shares of the company and interfere into the operations due to large investments but do
not expect any returns from the company. They attract a lot of other investors to the
company.
5. Banking Financing: The Company asks banks to finance in the company by giving a proposal
to the bank which if the bank accepts provides loan to the company against interest which the
company needs to pay against the loan taken by the company. This does not require
submitting equities and the ownership remains in the hands of the company. The interest rate
varies and the company needs to pay interest even it is not making profits.
The London Essence company is a branded company which can effectively attract venture
capitalist or can take loan from bank. In this way the company will not lose its ownership rights
also. The different ways to get access to funding care
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LO-4: EVALUATE THE RANGE OF METHODS FOR PROTECTING
IDEAS AND UNDERSTAND THEIR ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
Task-1: Evaluating the different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect
knowledge and intellectual property.
Every company aspires for the introduction of innovation into its operating system but
the formulation of the same is not an easy process. The companies who are about to implement
innovative ideas must safeguard their moves and stop leakage of any information (Protection,
2017). The London Essence Company has decided to produce low calories drink and must
safeguard this notion by getting it registered and acquiring patents and rights of the product.
Some of the techniques through which it could safeguard its product are mentioned below.
1. Patents: Patent is a technique through which the company could stop other companies
from utilizing its idea of innovation. The title of the product would be restricted for the
company use for a limited period of time. It is a rigorous process but will safeguard the
idea of innovation which has been developed by the company after many efforts. London
Essence Company is about to produce low calories drink which must get patent by the
company.
2. Trademarks: Trademarks are the codes or symbols that the company gives to its
particular product which can only be used in the context of the product and no one else
could use the same trademark to denote any other product. The government trademark
registration is for a period of 6 years which can be renewed again. The London Essence
Company must get trade mark for its new product (Protection, 2017).
3. Design Registration: The design of the product must be get registered so that no the
company can copy the design framework of the product and produce similar product. The
registration will ensure that no other company can use the layout without taking permit
from the government. London Essence Company must get its new product registered
under design registration and secure its innovative idea.
London Essence Company can effectively implement the above mentioned measures to
ensure that the innovative idea produced by the company of manufacturing low calories drink
remains secure and no their company could use its idea for their own profits.
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CONCLUSION
It is found that innovation has become an integral part of the companies as with the
changing tines the needs and requirements of the customers are also changing which needs to be
addressed in a proper manner. The changing demands of the customers has enforced that the
companies uses innovative techniques to fulfil the demands of the customers in a more
appropriate manner. The inclusion of innovation is not an easy process it requires a lot of
investments and efforts (Gov.uk, 2017). It is totally different from invention which is a onetime
effort whereas innovation is a continuous process. Innovation compromises of three phases
which must be addressed properly so that objectives, goals and vision of the companies are met
accordingly. The London Essence Company is well efficient to introduce new product and incur
investments for innovations. The company must check the new product that it is going tom
manufacture must be properly safeguarded so that no other company takes the benefits of its
efforts.
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REFERENCES:
1. Protection, I. (2017). Four Types of Intellectual Property Protection - Free Legal
Resource. Available at: https://www.upcounsel.com/intellectual-property-protection
2. SearchCIO. (2017). What is business innovation ? - Definition from WhatIs.com.
Available at: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/business-innovation
3. SearchSalesforce. (2017). What is sales funnel? - Definition from WhatIs.com.
Available at: http://searchsalesforce.techtarget.com/definition/sales-funnel
4. Spulber, D. (2014). The innovative entrepreneur. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press. Available at
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/innovative-entrepreneur/61215AB394EF7A377E
0D35F43D804B36
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consulting - Miodrag Kostic - profitable new ideas Balkans south east Europe Romania
Bulgaria Hungary Croatia Slovenia Belgrade Serbia. Available at:
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BizExcell. Available at: http://www.bizexcell.com/innovation-and-4ps-of-innovation/
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