IBM with a move announced today eliminates patentable innovation as a competitive advantage. In an article titled Hoping to Be a Model, I.B.M. Will Put Its Patent Filings Online the New York Times reports:

The move by I.B.M. does carry business risks. Patents typically take three or four years after filing to be approved by the patent office. Companies often try to keep patent applications private for as long as possible, to try to hide their technical intentions from rivals.

“Competitors will know years ahead in some cases what fields we’re working on,” said John Kelly, senior vice president for technology and intellectual property at I.B.M. “We’ve decided we’ll take that risk and seek our competitive advantage elsewhere.”

The innovation cornerstone for most enterprises is technology and intellectual property. Of course innovation is not limited to only those things that are patentable, BUT, when you run an enterprise built upon a technology foundation what does it say about their prospects when you TOTALLY discard this advantage?

I’m sure the socialist arm of the open source movement will hail this as an enlightened strategy, and Mr. Kelly will find himself best friends with Doc Searls and tribe. But I doubt this policy will ever see the light of day – assuming there’s any adult supervision left at IBM. If it does see the light of day, then count on a hundred thousand or so predatory firms picking off these innovations, and either reaping the rewards themselves, or screwing up what would of potentially been a winning innovation.

I wonder what Steve Jobs thinks about this.

Learn how to wage and win battles for market share. Download the free PDF preview of the Art of Attack. Just
click to get the PDF. There are no forms to fill out, you don’t need to
leave your email address. No annoying questions to answer. Just click
and get your PDF.