For PATENTS:
Memory
Compression/Decompression (CODECs)
Displays
Battery/portable power
Image capture
Sensors
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Internet telephony
Printing
Opto-electronics
Lighting

For Medical Devices and Healthcare:
Imaging for diagnostic purposes
Cardiac care
Sleep therapy/respiratory care
Decision support systems for doctors
User interfaces on medical devices and software
Patient monitoring (including measuring new parameters like core temperature)
Path finding using imaging devices for robotics in surgery
Molecular imaging/diagnostics

yet2.combelieves that Open Innovation will be less about scouring the Universe (the scouring function per se is fast becoming a commodity), and more about nurturing and integrating the technology that is found during the search. It’s less about finding the islands and more about building the bridges. This means large companies must be more collaborative — and here’s the big prediction — large companies will partner more aggressively with VC firms and small firms to cultivate a better farm team of new growth opportunities.

With all that collaborating and integration, trust will play a growing role in creating value. This sounds odd, but it’s true. If companies need to partner, that means they will need to be more public about their objectives, their strengths, and their weaknesses. This is tough for anyone, but it’s really tough for a large organization.

Like baseball, the major league companies will make bets on a number of competing technologies, and let success in the minor leagues (the smaller companies) determine which technologies get promoted to the spotlight.

It will be another year before the yet2 team gathers again under the blue sky of Maine to eat lobster and play baseball. But I bet a lot sooner than that, you and your company will have to make a deal that’s critical to your organization, that involves IP — and for which trust will be a critical component.

Tell me if I’m wrong.

yet2.com leadership team in Maine

Under a blue sky that only Maine can provide, we tossed around observations on trends in Open Innovation and IP Licensing, and got a chance to blow off some steam — Frisbee and basketball — and at least one of us suffered a humiliating defeat at chess (ahem). Although we are a small company, we have offices in Liverpool, Tokyo, Boston, and Wilmington, Delaware, so gathering everyone together in the same time zone is no small feat.

I particularly enjoy these events because I enjoy the company of my colleagues and I enjoy Maine; but meetings such as these are even more important because the world of Open Innovation and Patent Licensing is changing rapidly. In part, that’s driven by a natural business evolution — let’s call it “survival of the fittest idea” — but even that process is accelerated by the recent worldwide economic turmoil. Like Open Innovation itself, meetings of peers can’t help but generate new ideas and point out new ways of looking at things. (More about meetings in later posts.)

We gathered at the yacht club for dinner

There is a lot of value to be created by spotting trends early and moving fast.

Here is one thing that I learned from our discussions:

There is currently an unusual supply of venture-fundable spinout opportunities on the market that are the result of solid research and strong business cases. Why? Because the world’s leading companies are cutting back on R&D spending to reduce costs. Reluctantly, they’re killing off these great new growth opportunities. In fact, even for those projects that remain in-house and funded, large companies will need to partner with outside organizations to continue to provide value to shareholders.

Partnership? Collaboration? Here comes Open Innovation on steroids.