Friday, May 2, 2014
Wrap Up: Let's Use Social Media Tools
On a typical day, you might find me managing Facebook Page analytics, updating my personal travel blog about my latest trip to Mexico, or, throughout this spring semester, researching and writing about engineering patents for my IEOR 190G blog. I have learned so much- about academic subjects, user engagement, marketing techniques, to name a few- from deploying a range of social media tools for both school work and extracurricular projects since coming to college.
I would like to thank Professor Tal Lavian and our GSI Arezu for setting up our class assignments in this unique way, as it gave me flexibility in combining class material, real-world application, and my own particular areas of interest into my own work. This process was highly effective for learning. Once I glaze the surface of, for instance, a patent case that sparks interests (and tons of questions), I would naturally open several tabs on the Internet to consult multiple sources before synthesizing these perspectives into a summary, or even argument, of the problem at hand.
The blog allows me to keep track of the vast pools of knowledge I'm growing, and more importantly, combined with the Youtube platform, sets up an interactive community. It is in this social media woven IEOR 190G ecosystem that I was able to gain feedback from classmates and spot common interests among ourselves. Unlike the traditional "single learner" assignments most classes distribute, blogging and YouTube definitely made my learning process more interactive and transparent. I strongly believe that these weekly "put your thoughts into writing" exercises were more effective for building critical thinking skills.
To improve this tool in a class setting, it would most helpful to encourage all classmates to follow each other's blogspot URLs from the very start. That includes teaching everyone how to enter our blogs into our mutual feeds so we can broaden our reading list for the weekend commentaries. I would even suggest creating one assignment where we have to reach out to a blogger/ writer in this field and interviewing them to grow the practical learning aspect and build our professional networks.
Wrap Up: Reflections on IEOR 190G
My interest in engineering patents actually arose in a geography class when we were debating the Monsanto case with regards to patented genes, which led to question several themes encircling this article: should we patent life? Having fostered a strong interest in technology, I wanted to learn more, and that is why I enrolled in this class, IEOR 190G.
After a semester, I would definitely recommend this class to future Cal students, whether you're a business/econ student like me, or a software engineer, aspiring entrepreneur, lawyer, or litigation consultant. Coming from little to no background in how patents work, I now have a clearer picture of the web of interaction between businesses, the USPTO, startups, PAEs (patent trolls), and financial institutions. This class is valuable to me for pragmatic reasons because I am interested in valuation in finance where patents will come into play, just think the Motorola buy and sell.
I especially enjoyed hearing the guest speakers and Professor Lavian's broad experiences in industry. I can only hope to return in 5-10 years time and pay it forward, wherever my knowledge building takes me. Good luck, IEOR 190G Class of Spring 2014! It's been a ball.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Patent Value: Amazon 1-Click
Amazon 1-click is a billion dollar patent filed in 1997 and USPTO-approved in 1999. Yes, it is actually a patent! PCWorld disagrees but it has already happened... The value proposition of the Amazon 1-Click feature is that it simplifies online shopping check-out to a frictionless process. The result: extremely high conversion from existing customers. So what’s the problem with protecting this business innovation? The issue lies in fact that 1-click protects a very broad concept that millions of other online retailers would benefit from. In fact, Europe continues to reject Amazon’s ongoing attempt in the past 10+ years to file a patent in that continent.
4 criteria for ability to patent:
Useful. Yes
Useful. Yes
Novel. Perhaps.
Prior art. One-stop checkouts existed in the brick and mortar world but not the virtual world.
Obviousness. This idea seemed obvious to many, but as I mentioned in the Leo case where identifying a need or design meant the difference between obviousness and nonobviousness, perhaps the 1-click option was not obvious.
Indeed, the 1-click is a very powerful patent. Founder Jeff Bezos initially started Amazon as a book seller, quickly mounting in competition with Barnes and Noble. While B&N attempted to set up the 2-click feature on their website, Amazon regarded that as patent infringement and sued B&N, which ended in Amazon's favor. Most retailer companies who recognized the value of this feature decided to partner with Amazon instead, albeit at a price. E.g. Apple: incorporated 1-click into iTunes, iPhoto and Apple App Store through a license.
How much is the 1-click patent worth? In 2011, Amazon made 48.1 billion in revenue. If 1-click increase sales by 5% per year, that’s an additional 2.4 billion in revenue due to 1-click and an additional 40.8 million based on 2012’s 1.7% operating margin. This excludes licensing fees from Apple and multiple other partners
How long will the 1-click's patent value persist after expiration in 2017? Remember that 1-click is just one of Amazon’s 3 big disruptions in the retailer world: there is also Amazon Prime, and One Day shipping. They’re all business services ultimately. With continuous innovation, Amazon will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.
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