Patents 3.0: How to fix American Innovation

The patent system is broken. As Jeanne Fromer observed, “Patent law encourages cumulative innovation, both by dangling the patent before the inventor as an incentive to invent in the first instance and by requiring him to disclose to the public his invention so that science can progress by building on the divulged knowledge” Iowa Law Review, 2009. Two hundred twenty years ago, this was true. In 2012, new systems are desperately needed to match the risk and complexity of technology innovation. I will share new mechanisms that can drive innovation by combining patent-style financial benefits, with the benefits of open-source.

About Kipp Bradford
Kipp Bradford is an educator, technology consultant, and entrepreneur with a passion for creating new products as well as finding new applications for existing technologies. He was the founding CTO of a number of start-ups in the fields of transportation, consumer products, HVAC, and medical devices, and holds numerous patents for his inventions. His current company, kippkitts, LLC, is an open source hardware manufacturer making an array of “Technology Stem-Cells”, which are tools for engineers and designers. Kipp is faculty at the Brown University School of Engineering, and is a fellow at Philadelphia University’s College of Design, Engineering and Commerce.