Why Patent Reward Systems Require More than Just Money

Innovation is crucial to maintaining your company’s growth, and patent reward systems are a great way to keep your innovators happy. While you likely have hiring agreements in place to define how employees who earn patents are compensated, how can you reward them without breaking the bank?

Invest In Your Teams

It’s important to remember that design-thinking and successful creative output doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Corporate patent awards should obviously focus on successful creation and on the creator, but support teams make the creator’s job possible.

Having quality support teams in place gives your innovative thinkers the mental space to produce and act on new ideas. When establishing your patent incentive award program, make sure to celebrate everyone involved in the creation of new products.

Why Patent Reward Systems Require More than Just Money

Celebrations Along The Way

As anyone who has applied for a patent knows, patent application isn’t easy. Even more, once you’ve received your patent, it still needs to be maintained.

Innovative thinkers and the employees who support them benefit from corporate support in each step of the way. This can include anything from a party to a plaque.

Make Things Visible

Display company patent awards prominently so that both clients and employees can see your organization’s innovative output. Manufacturing in the developed world must continuously expand and grow to stay in business, so if your customers note your ability to flex and grow, you have a better shot at keeping existing customers and getting new ones.

Innovative patent display structures do not need to be permanent or fixed. In fact, company patent award can be as small as desktop awards or as large as full display walls.

Display the Process

As noted above, getting a patent isn’t easy. Why not celebrate both your innovative thinkers and your support personnel by celebrating throughout the patent application timeline?

For example, you could display a simple leaderboard that indicates

the initial application (or provisional app, if this is your first step)
the country(ies) of application
approval steps
successes along the way
finally, the patent award!

Making this process visible celebrates innovating thinking, reminds all your employees that getting a patent requires a large investment by the company, and demonstrates the ongoing work of your patent support personnel.

Keep Participation Options Open

Never limit idea gathering to engineers or R&D professionals. Great ideas can come from anyone in your business. Additionally, when collecting patentable ideas, make sure the meeting isn’t too serious. No matter your industry, happy people that feel free to express themselves will always come up with more ideas than people who are afraid to present their thoughts.

Privacy and Compensation Issues

If your employee patent compensation plan includes a cash bonus, consider leaving this payment out of your patent celebrations and milestone parties. If a cash payment is standard, inventors will be made aware of this when they sign on with your organization.

Your patent rewards should offer everyone on the patent team the opportunity to be celebrated and recognized. Rather than focusing on the cash payout to the inventor or invention team, you can lift the spirits of the entire organization by celebrating everyone’s involvement and ultimate success.

Patents Keep Business Moving Forward

Companies, particularly manufacturing companies in the developed world, simply can’t survive without innovation. To pay competitive rates and keep employees well compensated, innovation must be a constant.

In fact, patent compensation plans have been in discussion in the government private sectors for years. Promoting innovation by compensating innovative thinkers has long been a goal.

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