The Role of Patent Engineer - Inventor Interaction for Research and Development Creativity

• Patents as a strategic tool has been much in focus lately, both in research and in the corporate world. Considering this, there has been surprisingly little interest paid to the process in which patents are generated within firms. Based on interviews with patent engineers and inventors who have been involved in interaction with each other in patenting processes, plus their patent managers, this study describe and discuss the patent drafting process as one (partly) driven by interaction. The patent drafting process is described as a process of asymmetrical collaboration delivering two distinct, but related outcomes – a refined invention and a patent application that most likely is better than it would have been otherwise. These outcomes are not cases of collective creativity as patent engineers do not invent and inventors do not (normally) define patent claims. This does not diminish the importance of the collaboration. Three roles - “opportunity recognizer”,“konstruktiver opponent”, and “enabling bureaucrat” – are identified and used to frame the patent engineers’ work and contributions to creativity.

Keyword

Patent engineer

inventor

interaction

creativity

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)