Invention, Intellectual Property and Business Models.
Assignment
- Develop a plan for dissemination of your final project.
- Prepare drafts of your summary slide (presentation.png, 1920x1080) and video clip (presentation.mp4, 1080p HTML5, < ~minute, < ~10 MB) and put them in your root directory
This week, we need to choose between getting a patent or using a license to protect our work. In my opinion, a patent isn't necessary for my project because it's not a groundbreaking invention. Patents are usually for things that are difficult for everyone to make. If my project works well, anyone should be able to replicate it in a Fablab by following certain steps.
I've always been a fan of open source, which means sharing knowledge with everyone. That's why I want to keep my project open source. The great thing about open source is that it allows people to use, study, change, and share the software for any purpose. This can help the project grow quickly because individuals can make their own improvements and share them with others.
What is creative common licenses (cc)?
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that provides a set of licenses and tools to enable creators to easily share their work while still retaining some control over how it is used. These licenses are known as Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons licenses allow creators to specify the permissions they grant to others regarding the use, distribution, and modification of their work. There are different types of Creative Commons licenses, each with its own set of permissions and restrictions. For example, some licenses may allow for commercial use of the work, while others may require attribution to the original creator.
There are six main types of Creative Commons licenses. They are as follows:
1- Attribution (CC BY): This license allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work, even commercially, as long as they give credit to the original creator.
2- Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): This license permits others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even for commercial purposes. However, any derivative works must be.
3- Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND): This license allows others to redistribute the work, even for commercial purposes, as long as it is unchanged and credited to the original creator.
4- Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): This license permits others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work, but only for non-commercial purposes. Credit to the original creator is required.
5- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): This license allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes. Any derivative works must be shared under the same license.
6- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): This license allows others to download and share the work as long as it is credited to the original creator. However, it cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.
At the end I licenses my project DORAPAN under "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)"
Project Dissemination
Even though my primary goal is not to generate profit or sell the project, my intention is to widely disseminate it among Fablabs that lack the necessary equipment, specifically a turntable, for conducting scanning operations.
Looking ahead, I have ambitious plans to further develop the turntable and enhance its capabilities, transforming it into a versatile and compact device that can serve multiple purposes beyond just scanning operations.
Business model
I have chosen an open-source non-commercial license for my project, allowing others to freely use and modify it for non-commercial purposes. However, I am actively exploring options to seek support and potentially initiate a crowdfunding campaign to further develop and enhance the product. My ultimate goal is to commercialize it and offer it for sale to inspection and testing labs, universities, and any other institutions in need of such a product. The profits generated from the sales will be allocated towards opening a fablab or acquiring new machines that can benefit economically disadvantaged regions. This initiative aims to promote the widespread adoption of digital fabrication technology and bridge the gap between people and these advanced technologies, particularly in underserved communities.
Final project slide:
Final project video: