You don't need to re-invent the wheel - patent searching can make your R&D plain sailing

It was interesting to read this article on the latest generation of car transporter ships. When faced with the challenge of making these cargo ships more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, this company has hit on the maybe not so radical idea of using wind to help power their vessels, for at least some of the time. However, whilst using the wind to sail ships has been around since way back into history, the vessel in question uses the latest technology to enhance the wind power provided.

What jumped out at me from this article is that cutting edge innovation can still learn from the past, but use the latest techniques to improve on what was previously possible. This learning from the past can also be used to assist with R&D projects. It reminds me of my own time in R&D when were lucky enough to gain access to R&D archives as a result of a company acquisition. Lab books and reports going back many years gave insights into solutions to several of our current R&D projects. Aside from the point that "know-how" and other intangibles can provide a valuable addition to the physical and commercial assets of a company, this also taught me that we can often learn from the past when looking to provide innovative solutions for the future.

A vast amount of innovation is captured and made available to the public in published patent applications. Furthermore, according to one estimate, the innovations that are the subject of around 85% of patents are available to use, e.g. if their fixed term has expired or they have been abandoned, withdrawn or refused. Incorporating patent searching into the early stages of R&D projects can sometimes help identify solutions to the project problem that have been described in previous patent applications and also identify whether they are available to use or whether they are protected and should be avoided or worked around. In these cases, solutions and potential problems can be identified earlier in the project.  

There is an established industry of patent searching firms with great expertise and cutting edge tools for identifying patent applications of interest to help you with the process if, like many, you are time or resource limited. There are also free to use tools such as Espacenet or Google Patents that provide basic patent searching facilities. The information available isn't limited to R&D assistance but also extends to commercial information such as what innovations are your competitors filing Patents for?    

As such, building patent searching into an R&D project could potentially help that project become plain sailing!