In the competitive world of engineering and product development, a patent can often feel like an insurmountable wall. But what if that wall was actually a puzzle waiting to be solved?
My latest find on YouTube, from the channel IdeaMechanics, dives deep into a "secret weapon" for innovators: TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving). The video, titled "5 Ways to Hack the Patent System with Engineering," is a masterclass in how to move beyond legal jargon and use functional engineering to navigate the complex world of intellectual property.
Here’s a breakdown of the game-changing strategies discussed in the video.
1. The Art of Trimming: Circumventing the Recipe
A patent claim is essentially a recipe. If you remove just one "essential ingredient" from that recipe, you are no longer making the same dish—and thus, you aren't infringing. [
The video shares a brilliant example involving printing images on chocolate. The original patent used edible paper as a delivery system. By applying TRIZ "trimming," innovators realized the paper was just a middleman. They removed it entirely and printed directly onto the chocolate, creating a more efficient process that legally sidestepped the original patent. [
2. Building "Unhackable" Patents
The best offense is a good defense. Before filing your own patent, TRIZ encourages you to "put on your competitor’s hat" and try to break your own invention. [
Weak Patents: Are bloated with extra, "trimmable" parts that competitors can easily design around.
Strong Patents: Are stripped to their bare essentials. Hyundai famously used this method to "bulletproof" their engine designs after learning how to hack through their competitors' patents first. [
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3. Hunting for "Ghost Components"
Sometimes, the biggest opportunities lie in what a patent doesn't say. TRIZ helps identify "Ghost Components"—elements necessary for an invention to work that the original filer forgot to name in the claims. [
Example: If a patent describes two isolated chambers, there must be a wall between them. If the word "wall" isn't in the claim, that’s your target. You can innovate a new way to replace that "ghost" function with entirely different technology. [
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4. Finding "White Spots" with S-Curve Analysis
Stop guessing where to spend your R&D budget. TRIZ uses S-Curve analysis to map the maturity of technologies. [
Crowded Fields: Technologies like mechanical circuit breakers are at the top of the curve—saturated and hard to patent.
White Spots: Emerging tech, like light-based actuation, sits at the bottom of the curve. These are wide-open spaces for foundational patents. [
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5. Proving the "Inventive Step" (1+1=3)
To get a patent, your idea can’t be "obvious." Adding wings to a laptop is just 1+1=2 (obvious). But if those wings also cool the processor through their motion, you’ve created synergy. [
Final Thoughts
This video is a must-watch for any engineer or tech entrepreneur who feels restricted by the current patent landscape. It shifts the perspective from "avoiding a minefield" to "identifying a field of opportunities."
Watch the full video here:
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