Patents aren’t a great incentive compared to prizes because patents don’t always end up in monetary gain.
Staunton 2023, Phil Staunton, Phil is the Managing Director of D2M Innovation, a product design consultancy that has helped hundreds of businesses and start-ups successfully bring their product ideas to market. He is also the founder of Ark Pushchairs, where he has gained extensive experience in the entire product development process—from concept to launching his product range in prestigious high street retailer John Lewis., “97% of Patents Never Make Money: How to Join the Elite 3%!,” January 25, 2023, Retrieved: July 8, 2024, ABWSR, https://www.design2market.co.uk/academy/97-of-patents-never-make-money/#:~:text=It's%20a%20commonly%20known%20fact,patents%20never%20make%20any%20money. [MSDI- -wk2]
To give you a bit of insight: patent applications to the IPO increased by 7.3% and design applications by 8.9% between 2019 and 2020. And in the following year, TM applications reached a record high of a whopping 137,035; but despite this increase in activity, only 3% of originators actually make money from their designs. I’d like to tell you why, and how to avoid being part of the 97% of innovators who don’t make money from their patents.