Checkout.com: Innovation, Commercial Funnel, and IP Protection

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of innovation and commercialisation strategies, focusing on Checkout.com as a case study. It begins by explaining the importance of the commercial funnel, detailing stages such as awareness, interest, decision, and action, and how they apply to new product development. The report then builds an innovative business case for Checkout.com, exploring funding methods like stakeholders, local businesses, and self-funding. Furthermore, it examines various tools that organisations can use to develop, retain, and protect knowledge and intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets, evaluating their effectiveness in the broader business environment. The conclusion summarises the key findings, emphasizing the importance of the commercial funnel and intellectual property protection for business success.

Unit 8 Innovation and Commercialisation

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
P5 explanation of importance of commercial funnel:..................................................................3
P6 Building innovative business case for checkout.com:............................................................5
P7 The different tools that organization can utilize to develop, retain and protect knowledge and
intellectual property.........................................................................................................................6
M4. Present supported evidence-based evaluation of these different tools in the context of the
wider business environment.........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Commercialization means the process and methods used by the business to introduce
their products in the market. The commercialization is a broad term which include the
production, development of idea, production and introducing the product in the market. The
success of new product of the company mainly depend upon commercial success (Friedman,
2017). This study is based on the Checkout.com, the company was established in 2012 with the
purpose of bringing new technology which allow business as well as customer to easily and
safely pay their bills. The company was started with the motive of innovation in the payment
methods. In this report we will understand the importance of commercial funnel and understand
the process of New Product Development for commercialization of innovation. Later we have
build and understand innovation business case and provided methods which company can use to
access funds. At last in this report we will discuss different type of tools which can be used by
the company to protect the intellectual property of the business organization.
MAIN BODY
P5 explanation of importance of commercial funnel:
A commercial funnel is a method used in marketing, this help business to find and qualify
trade their product with the customer. This help company to break down the journey map of the
customer and understand the concept and process of sales funnel. This funnel provides important
details of area where a company lack behind and need an improvement. The importance of
commercial funnel are as follows:
Awareness: this stage of the commercial funnel means the customer is try to get aware about the
company, this happens when the customer start its journey by identifying the problem and later
search the solution on commercial platforms, the organization can understand the touchpoint
which help the to improve the awareness about the company and its product (Bilgin, 2018).
Interest: second stage of commercial funnel help company tom understand the interest level of
the customer, at this stage, many customers started to loss interest and turn back from their
journey and only few left which later ask for more details and information about the company
and its product.

Decision: the third stage of commercial funnel allow customer to make final decision in
purchasing the product. Company tend to offer various sales related offers and often allow them
to make a decision.
Action: this last and the final stage in the commercial funnel which help customer to take final
action with the company (Min, Kim and Vonortas, 2020). This action is related to the purchase
of the product.
The new product development process for commercial innovation:
When the business have the manufacturing units, they need to carefully develop new
product and plan accordingly. Wide ranges of product enter the market and only few survive
because these new product are been developed by innovation. There are certain steps in the new
product development stage such as:
Idea generation: the new product development stage start from generating idea, this idea need
to be innovative to survive the market. The company generate range full of idea but only select
them who meet all the criteria of the process.
Idea screening: the idea screening is one of the most important part in the process, there are
hand full of idea which company cannot select at all, so they need to screen and compare various
idea all together and pick up the best one for new product (Wang, Phillips and Yang, 2021). New
product demand new idea and it is important to filter out the most suitable for the success.
Development and testing: after all the generation and screening of the idea, the company decide
to development the idea into product. This is crucial process that need to carefully understand by
the company, after the development of new product, company go for testing which decide the
future of the product, whether it will survive or fall in the market.
Marketing strategies: the next and foremost important step which help company to develop
marketing strategies for the new product (Mauerhoefer, Strese and Brettel, 2017). Marketing of
the product plays a vital role in the success, company need to make innovative strategies to win
the market. Marketing is a broad term which include every part and details of the target market.
Business analysis: the business analysis means, when the company is done with the new product
marketing strategies then the management team can take part in further process. The
management team help business to manage the cost, expenditure and revenue strategies. This
help them to understand how new product can be beneficial for the company by business
analysis.

Product development: this stage plays an significant role in the NPD process as this is the stage
business is waiting for, this is the actual development of the product by manufacturing units.
Testing marketing: this stage help business to test their marketing concept and strategies before
implementing commercialization in the new product development process. This testing is the
final view of the market before lunching the product.
Commercialization: commercialization simply means the product is ready and have been
introduced to the target market. This stage is the most important and the most challenging for the
company (Zhan, Tan, and Tse, 2018). They have put large amount of cost in the manufacturing
of the product, build innovative marketing campaigns and spent huge amount on other expenses
in the process of new product development. In commercialization, time and place plays an vital
role as times means when the demand of the product or innovation is high and when is the right
time to introduce the product. Whereas place means the market and its location where the
product is going to be introduced.
P6 Building innovative business case for checkout.com:
In today's world, business need to be innovative to survive the market, innovation and
creativity of the business plays a vital role. When the business have innovative idea and concept,
then they can plan the process of the development of the business. Investors are usually stay
ready to invest in the innovative business concept (Akhmetshin, et.al., 2018). This case of
business innovation is on the CheckOut.com, this company is start up enterprise which provide
easy check out for the online payment and allow customer to easily pay their bills. The company
is tend to start the innovative process with the latest and powerful concept of easy payment
modes, the company seem to get success from its initial stage. Every business enterprise whether
it is small or large, old or innovative, all business need funding. Funding plays an important role
in managing the business smoothly, without funding it becomes very challenging for the business
to survive. A business can gather funding from various ways such as;
Stakeholders: stakeholders are one of the best methods to collect funding and budget,
stakeholders and their wealth can be utilized in the business process (Trott, 2017). When the
business organization plan to involve the stakeholders in the process, then they accept them to
invest and provide idea to manage the business. For CheckOut.com, they need to involve their
stakeholders in process, as the company is new business start up and require capital to plan new

strategies to grow. They can assess the funding through the help of stakeholders and their
investment in the business.
Local business: local business are usually in development stage and it can be difficult to arrange
funding from them but the CheckOut.com have the concept of easy payment mode and can help
them to grab the attention of the local business who find difficult in payment methods. The
company can approach them and ask for the investment. Well established local business will
going to get ready to provide funding to the Checkout.com.
Self funding: self funding is best in all ways but need to have sufficient fund to calculate every
cost and expenditure, many new business start mainly focus on self funding as they do not have
to repay and there is no interest on such funding. For Checkout.com, they are already in the half-
way of success, and they have sufficient amount of capital to fund their business plans. They
need to save huge amount from their revenue from their sales as this will help them to fund
themselves in the future.
P7 The different tools that organization can utilize to develop, retain and protect knowledge and
intellectual property.
Intellectual property is a collection of activity that involves profitable creations and
human intelligence. This property is framed to protect the ideologies and creativeness which can
profit them. There are four ways of protecting the intellectual property:
 Copyrights : A copyright protects another people from copying or make duplicate of any
kind of work until the owner not given the permission to transcript. This protection includes
creative works like paintings and drawings, emails, voice and video recordings, coding, and
any writing. Any individual or organization can secure their writing records by registering
the copyrights(Zeng, and Guo, 2021). Registration is not always required but if someone is
illegally trying to duplicate the work, then there is an option to file a case against the person.
Sometimes it is difficult to prove the copyright work in front of the legal team, so it is better
to keep a registration.
 Trademarks : It is a sign or symbol of explaining the product and services given by a
particular organization. Trademark includes picture, logo and phrases from which it can be
identified the source of goods. This is a unique indication of a company. Most of the time
services or goods are mentioned in the name of trademarks and services which are provided
with a signature called as service marks. As above mentioned point copyright needs a

registration, trademarks are not compulsory to recorded but if required then it can be listed
at trademarks office. Protection can be done by informing the office that an organization is
using this symbol since 10 years and still.
 Patents : Patents refers inventions. The most appropriate example is when a person produce
or invent a new machine and new combinations in a market then that person only allow for
exportation and production in different countries and regions(Nakajima, et.al, 2021.). This
allows owner to protect their innovation for moneymaking aim till 20 years. People can
apply for the patent with the United states patent office.
 Trade Secrets : The best trade can be done by keeping the secret of the innovation, creation
and ideologies. As copyrights and patents it includes its ideas and information about how
they create and analyse their creations. If an author want to write a novel about the invention
then owner have to spread the unique ideas of an invention. Same as with copyright they
have to disclose their skills(Aristodemou and Tietze, 2018.). The best way to protect the
intellectual property should be confusing. Keeping the secret of the ideas which creates a
difficulty to people in figuring out is the excellent way to prevent trade secrets.
M4. Present supported evidence-based evaluation of these different tools in the context of the
wider business environment.
Here, framing some evidence of the different tools in the business environment. Firstly
looking at these four major concepts of intellectual property which describes the creative ideas
and innovation of the people working in a company. It covers everything from brand to ts logo
and maintaining the companies long term revenue and share values.
CONCLUSION
In this report we have discussed the importance of commercial funnel which provide details
about importance such as awareness a company create about their product and service and try to
attract the customer through this funnel. Later in this report we have discussed process of new
product development for commercialization of innovation. Later we have build and understand
an innovation business case which highlight the details about, how a company can access
funding. At last in this report we have evaluated different tools that help organization to protect
their intellectual property.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Akhmetshin, et.al, 2018. Motivation of personnel in an innovative business climate.
Bilgin, Y., 2018. The effect of social media marketing activities on brand awareness, brand
image and brand loyalty. Business & Management Studies: An International
Journal, 6(1), pp.128-148.
Friedman, D.A., 2017. Addressing the commercialization of business reputation. Law &
Contemp. Probs., 80, p.73.
Mauerhoefer, T., Strese, S. and Brettel, M., 2017. The impact of information technology on new
product development performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34(6),
pp.719-738.
Min, J.W., Kim, Y. and Vonortas, N.S., 2020. Public technology transfer, commercialization and
business growth. European Economic Review, 124, p.103407.
Trott, P., 2017. Innovation management and new product development. Pearson education.
Wang, Y.C., Phillips, F. and Yang, C., 2021. Bridging innovation and commercialization to
create value: An open innovation study. Journal of Business Research, 123, pp.255-266.
Zhan, Y., Tan, K.H., Li, Y. and Tse, Y.K., 2018. Unlocking the power of big data in new
product development. Annals of Operations Research, 270(1), pp.577-595.
Zeng, S. and Guo, X., 2021, March. Research on Key Technology of Software Intellectual
Property Protection. In 2021 International Conference on Intelligent Transportation, Big
Data & Smart City. (ICITBS)(.pp. 329-332). IEEE.
Nakajima, et.al, 2021. The EAES intellectual property awareness survey. Surgical
Endoscopy.pp.1-7.
Aristodemou, L. and Tietze, F., 2018. The state-of-the-art on Intellectual Property Analytics
(IPA): A literature review on artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning
methods for analysing intellectual property (IP) data. World Patent
Information.55.pp.37-51.
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