LEADERSHIP MESSAGE BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2013 7 The value of great ideas Boeing’s competitiveness stems from its intellectual property We are living in a time of ever-increasing global attention to intellectual property and the benefit it brings to the world economy. One need only glance at a newspaper to understand the substantial value being assigned to ideas, invention and innovation today. Case in point, the America Invents Act, the core of which took effect this year, contains the most significant changes in the U.S. patent system in many decades. In March, the White House released a federal strategy on mitigating the theft of U.S. trade secrets. And in July, the U.S. Commerce Department adjusted its calculation of the United States’ gross domestic product to include intellectual property production and investment. This move caused the GDP to be adjusted by a whopping 3 percent— almost $400 billion. That’s like adding the total output of the entire state of Washington and Charleston, S.C., combined. The cumulative know-how of our employees and Boeing’s intellectual property, comprising our patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks, is collectively the company’s most valuable asset, and it drives our competitive advantage. That is why every year, we celebrate those among us who have brought accountable and proven value to the company through the Special Invention and Technical Replication Awards. These innovators and their work ensure our products contain the highest state of the art and that Boeing remains the aerospace leader. The awards demonstrate the tangible benefits from the billions of dollars the company invests each year in research and development. (Read about some of these great ideas, and the employees behind them, on Page 44.) There is absolutely no doubting the results our inventors bring to Boeing’s success. And we’re not just talking about the rocket scientists. The inventor’s mindset is an approach all employees can and should follow, regardless of professional discipline. First, inventors focus on solving problems and making improvements to whatever work they might be doing—both within their own organizations and through their work externally. They then make the deliberate decision to capture and protect this hard-earned knowledge by filing invention disclosures and serving as active guardians of proprietary information. Boeing uses this valuable intellectual property to enable profitable business results, which, in turn, allows us to invest in further technology innovation—and sustains growth and jobs. Through this time-tested strategy, Boeing has developed one of the best patent portfolios among technology companies. This year, the Patent Board rated Boeing the No. 1 innovator in the aerospace and defense sector for the seventh year in a row. The rating is not just a nod to the size of our patent portfolio; the most important measurement used in this rating is technology strength. And the strength of our technology is the reason why Boeing people are able to solve our customers’ toughest problems day after day, year after year. That achievement can be a matter of pride for all of us at Boeing. n PHOTO: Bob ferguson/boeing Pete Hoffman Vice president, Intellectual Property Management
Frontiers October 2013 Issue
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