In this episode, John recalls building a “patent factory” during his tenure with IBM as a semiconductor engineer in the technology development department. This allowed him to become the top inventor at IBM and helped IP licensing at IBM grow to over a billion dollars a year in revenue. John and Mark also explore the question, “Do corporations need to continue to invent?” – it may seem obvious that the definitive answer is “Yes.” John outlines various businesses needs and environments that drive the need for invention and the types of creative strategies you might use to fill those needs. Other topics discussed in this episode:

– The difference between invention and innovation
– Incremental invention versus breakthrough inventions
– First movers and fast followers
– Ad hoc invention processes and why they don’t work
– Inventor recognition
– Building a culture for creativity and invention
– How AI is changing intellectual property

To see Part 1 of this interview, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEYgunV9Jck