Technical Disclosures Stimulate Innovation
IBM used the occasion of the recent announcement of its 2008 patent record to introduce plans to help stimulate innovation and economic growth. The company plans to increase by 50% -- to more than 3,000 -- the number of technical inventions it publishes annually instead of seeking patent protection. According to a press release, this will make these inventions freely available to others.
Publication of technological information is one means to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" the phrase in the U.S. Constitution giving the Congress the power to enact patent laws. Publication protects inventors from allegations of infringement by placing the intellectual property into the body of prior art. Publications also improve patent quality, since they can be cited by patent offices in limiting the scope of patent applications. Publication also helps spur follow-on innovation that ensures dynamic business growth.
While IBM will continue to seek patents and will protect its intellectual property, its planned increase in publishing inventions will focus on those technology areas that will increase the build out of a new, smarter infrastructure. The evolution of IBM’s policy builds on prior efforts to stimulate innovation by pledging not to assert certain patent rights in the area of open source software, health care, education, the environment, and software interoperability.
The entire IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin (IBM TDB) back-file was added to the IP.com Prior Art Database in 2005 making this the most complete electronic source for IBM TDBs, from their inception in 1958 through their most current disclosures of today. Patent examiners, corporate researchers, and others now have convenient electronic access to this critical source of technical disclosures. IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletins continue to be one of the world's most important sources of non-patent prior art.
