Week18
Assignment: Invention, intellectual property, and income
For this assignment, I am exploring the thoughts about Invention with the help of Gemini to demonstrate how the AI is looking into the whole concept. I am considering Gemini as a brainstorming assistant.
At its core, an invention is the creation of something entirely new, a product, process, or concept that didn't exist before. It's a novel solution to a problem or a new way of doing something. In the realm of hardware product development, this means conceiving and bringing into existence a physical device or a significant improvement to an existing one.
Key characteristics of an invention in hardware include:
In hardware product development, an invention can take many forms. It generally falls into categories that can be protected by patents, specifically utility patents (for function) and design patents (for appearance).
Here are some examples of what is considered an invention in hardware:
It's important to differentiate invention from innovation. Innovation is the process of improving existing creations or finding new applications for them, often focusing on practical implementation, refinement, and adaptation. While an invention is the "new idea," innovation is often about bringing that idea to market, iterating on it, and making it better. However, a significant innovation that introduces a novel technical solution can also qualify as an invention.
Some potential hardware inventions for future products that common people will likely require, categorized by the problems they solve:
1. Enhancing Home Life & Convenience:
Modular, Adaptive Furniture Systems with Integrated Electronics: Imagine furniture that can reconfigure itself based on your needs (e.g., a couch that becomes a dining table, a bed that retracts into the wall) and has built-in, wireless charging for all your devices, intelligent lighting, and even display surfaces. This optimizes space and reduces clutter in smaller living areas.
Self-Cleaning & Self-Maintaining Appliances: Beyond robot vacuums, think about washing machines that clean their filters, ovens that perform deep self-cleaning, or refrigerators that actively monitor food spoilage and suggest recipes. This reduces household chores and food waste.
Atmospheric Water Harvesters for Home Use: Especially relevant in regions with water scarcity (like parts of India during dry seasons), a compact, energy-efficient device that extracts potable water directly from the air, providing a supplementary or primary source of clean drinking water for households.
Personalized Climate Zones & Air Purification Systems: Hardware that allows individual rooms or even sections of a room to have highly customized temperature and humidity levels, coupled with advanced air purification that targets specific pollutants and allergens, improving comfort and health for everyone.
"Smart" Composters/Waste Converters: Devices that efficiently break down organic waste into useful compost or even small amounts of energy, reducing landfill burden and providing resources for home gardening.
Silent Home Drones for Delivery/Assistance: Small, extremely quiet drones that can fetch items from other rooms, deliver small groceries to your doorstep, or assist with light tasks, all without disturbing the household.
Universal, Wireless Power Delivery: Imagine entire rooms or homes where devices automatically charge wirelessly just by being in the space, eliminating the need for cords and chargers entirely. This moves beyond current induction pads to larger areas.
2. Improving Personal Well-being & Health:
Non-Invasive, Continuous Health Monitors (Beyond Wearables): Hardware integrated into everyday objects (beds, mirrors, toilet seats) that can continuously monitor vital signs, blood sugar, hydration, and other health markers without requiring active user input. This provides passive, real-time insights for early detection and preventative care.
Personalized Air Quality Monitors & Purifiers (Portable): Small, accurate devices that common people can carry to monitor local air quality and provide personal purification in polluted environments, especially relevant in urban areas.
Smart Shower/Bath Systems for Water Conservation & Skin Health: Hardware that optimizes water usage, recycles greywater, and dispenses personalized skincare treatments or infused water to improve skin and hair health, while also reducing water bills.
Stress-Reducing Sensory Devices: Hardware that provides calming light, sound, or haptic feedback tailored to an individual's stress levels (detected via biometric sensors), offering on-demand relaxation.
Automated Medication Dispensers/Reminders: For individuals with complex medication regimens, a smart hardware device that securely dispenses the correct medication at the right time, with visual and auditory reminders, improving adherence and safety.
3. Enhancing Mobility & Accessibility:
Adaptive Personal Mobility Devices: Next-generation wheelchairs, walkers, or even exoskeletons that are lightweight, powered by AI, and adapt to varying terrains and user needs, significantly improving mobility for those with physical challenges.
Smart Footwear with Integrated Navigation/Health Tracking: Shoes that offer precise indoor and outdoor navigation, provide real-time gait analysis, and even offer adaptive cushioning for personalized comfort and injury prevention.
Compact, Portable Personal Security Devices: Beyond current panic buttons, devices that can instantly summon assistance, create deterrents (e.g., loud alarms, blinding lights), or provide real-time location tracking in emergency situations.
Intelligent Public Transport Interfaces: Hardware at bus stops, train stations, etc., that provides real-time, highly personalized information about public transport options, accessibility features, and even predicts crowd levels, making public transit more user-friendly.
4. Revolutionizing Communication & Information Access:
Dynamic, Context-Aware Display Surfaces: Walls, tables, or windows that can transform into interactive displays, providing information, entertainment, or communication channels on demand, making digital information seamlessly integrated into physical spaces.
Real-time, Universal Language Translators (Wearable/Seamless): Beyond current apps, a subtle hardware device (like an earring or a lapel pin) that provides instantaneous, natural-sounding translation during conversations, breaking down language barriers in real-time for travel, business, and daily interactions.
Personalized "Information Bubbles": Hardware that curates and filters information specifically for the user, delivering relevant news, updates, and messages while blocking out noise and distractions, helping common people manage information overload.
Holographic Communication Devices (Personal Scale): While still a ways off, personal devices that enable realistic, 3D holographic calls, making remote communication feel much more personal and immersive.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Intellectual property is something produced using human intellect that has commercial value. An invention related to a product or process, a new design, an article, a literary or artistic work, and a trademark. It is the right held by a person over the creation of his intellect.
This image is from - www.wellstreetmojo.com
Types of Intellectual Properties:
A patent is an exclusive right granted to an applicant by the Government for a limited period to practice the invention. The patent confers the right to the patentee to exploit the patent for commercial gains and also to stop others from manufacturing or selling the patented product/process. What is patentable: A product / the apparatus for producing the product, / Process / Composition of matter. What is not patentable: A scheme or rule or method of performing a mental act or a method of playing a game, A presentation of information, Topography or integrated circuits, an invention related to traditional knowledge.
A trademark refers to a unique identification that helps consumers distinguish the goods or services of one business from those of another. Plays a critical role in branding and commerce. Types of trademarks: Words, Logos/Symbols, Letter and Numerals, Shapes, Colors, and Sounds. The primary purposes are source identification, brand recognition, quality assurance, advertising, and marketing.
Copyright is a legal right that protects original work of authorship. It gives the creator exclusive rights to control how their work is used and distributed. Under copyright: Literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works are protected. The copyright owner has the right to reproduce the work, distribute copies of the work, perform the work publicly, and create derivative works.
Design patent protects the visual representation of a product, with 2D or 3D unique shape of a product. The design must be new and original, not for any functional or mechanical aspects of the product. The design must be applied to a specific article of manufacture. It cannot be a standalone artistic work without an applied product.
GI - Geographical Indication is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin. There should be a strong direct link between the product’s attributes and its geographical location. Unlike a trademark, GI belongs to a community of producers in a specific area who make the product according to established standards. Commonly applies to agricultural products like Darjeeling Tea, Alphonso Mango, and Malai Poondu - a native garlic to Kodaikanal hills of Tamil Nadu, India, Handicrafts - Kanchipuram Silk Sarees from Tamil Nadu.
Open Source and Creative Commons Licenses:
Open source and Creative Commons licenses are both types of licensing that allow others to use, modify, and distribute creative works, but they have key differences. Open source licenses primarily focus on software, while Creative Commons licenses cover a wider range of creative works like text, imagescc1, and multimedia. Open source licenses grant users significant freedom to use, modify, and distribute the source code of a software program, often with requirements also to share any modifications under the same license. Creative Commons licenses, on the other hand, provide a more flexible approach, allowing creators to specify how others can use their work, including options for non-commercial use, attribution, and derivative works.
Creative Commons: LINK
Creative Commons is an international nonprofit organization that empowers people to grow and sustain the commons of shared knowledge.
We can get by registering in this link: Link
Creative License: LINK
Future Plans & Business Model:
The tabletop wind tunnel is essential for engineering students and institutional labs. So we will plan to sell the parts and electronics as a DIY Kit, which they can assemble self or we can train them to build the model in our fablabs. This can generate revenue for the labs, and also, more interesting features can be added as per the requirements of the buyer.
1. | DIY Tabletop Wind Tunnel Kit | Rs. 7,500/- | $90 |
2. | Training and DIY Tabletop Wind Tunnel Kit | Rs 15,000/- | $175 |
