VIDEO: Sharing or protecting patents – what speeds up innovation?

November 14, 2018

Innovation, both by established companies and by startups, drives the industry forward but the jury is out on what is more beneficial for innovation; sharing your inventions or building a wall around it.

In a talk show held in October as part of Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference in Amsterdam, Radio presenter Maarten Bouwhuis talked with industry and subject matter experts on what’s more beneficial, protecting patents and surrounding innovation by a wall, or openly sharing knowledge.

Ruben Rodrigues, Attorney, Foley and Lardner, specializing in intellectual property protection feels patent protection is important in the offshore industry, as projects there are very capital intensive, and it can be it can be hard to get that sort of investment if you don’t have some property rights at what you’re developing.”

He also sees patent protection as a business enabler rather than a hindrance.

“The world of licensing is where most patents end up… So, there are ways, especially via licensing, where a patent can actually help you connect and network with other companies, gain access to other markets that you may not have.”

Watch the full talk-show below to learn from Peter Paul van Voorst tot Voorst, Founder, SKOON, how his company is innovating in the space of mobile battery containers; How Daniel Buhagiar, Senior Research Engineer, FLASC is working on marine energy storage solution, and why they’ve patented it; and Seriena Bal, Managing Director, Buccaneer Delft, on how her company is promoting innovation in the offshore energy space, but also how patents can actually delay innovation.