The Internet of Things and business innovation

On behalf of Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law posted in Patent Law on Wednesday, July 26, 2017.

Among the things a business may bring in to try to increase efficiency or achieve other key business goals is new technology. There are many impacts incorporating new technology into a business can have. In some instances, it can spur on new innovations within a company.

One new technology that some companies have been turning to lately is Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This technology involves things such as connected and data-gathering everyday objects.

Among the things using IoT technology could potentially do for a company is give it access to new types of data. New data can sometimes illuminate new routes for innovation. A recent study suggests that there may be quite a few companies that are seeing a boost in innovation driven by their use of IoT.

The Economist Intelligence Unit performed this study. As part of the study, hundreds of senior business leaders were interviewed about IoT use. A quarter of these leaders indicated that the data that came from their company’s use of IoT has spurred on a new burst of innovation at their company.

Do you think IoT’s presence in businesses will continue to grow? If so, what impacts do you think it will have on business innovation?

As this discussion underscores, there are a wide range of ways new innovations could come about at a company. However a new innovation at a company comes about, one thing it can be important for a company to understand is what intellectual property protections they might be able pursue in relation to the innovation. Patent protection can be sought out for certain types of innovations. Patent lawyers can provide businesses with assessments of whether pursuing a patent would be an available option in relation to new innovations they developed.

Source: Forbes, “IOT Sparking A New Wave Of Analytics-Driven Innovation,” Louis Columbus, July 23, 2017