Patent guide Brook Assefa manages patent portfolios in the Intellectual Property Management organization. In this Frontiers series that profiles employees discussing their jobs, Assefa explains why his past experience as an engineer gives him a greater appreciation of the need to patent inventions. Frontiers August 2014 11 WHAT WE DO This employee helps turn great ideas into valuable patents As told to Elizabeth Davis, with photo by Marian Lockhart My job is full of challenges and surprises. I work on exciting inventions from our best engineers and technologists. On any given day, I might find myself working on satellites, autopilots, maintenance systems or with unmanned aerial vehicle patents. My role is to go around the company and engage inventors, review their ideas and submissions, and oversee patent application filings to ensure we protect the inventions we develop. I collaborate with our creative employees, and together we solve problems that make a difference. I know from firsthand experience that Boeing employees generate many valuable inventions that make our products and services even better. That’s why it’s really important for Boeing employees to patent the inventions they create, and it’s why I put a lot of effort into guiding inventors through the invention disclosure process. While each of us on the Patent Portfolio Management team specializes in a particular technical area such as manufacturing, networks, structures or systems engineering, we work together to assess whether a proposed invention should be considered for patenting. Sometimes we determine that an invention should be protected as a patent that we disclose; for others, we feel they’re better kept as a trade secret. Regardless of the outcome, we’re concerned with ensuring that all Boeing inventions are positioned to generate the highest value for the company. I’ve always been interested in airplanes, so joining Boeing was a dream come true for me. I came to the company straight from college with a degree in applied math, which I used as a software analyst. After several years I discovered that an engineering career could be incredibly versatile and got my master’s in electrical engineering by taking classes at night. I spent 14 years in engineering before thinking it was time to try a new career within Boeing. Before I moved from avionics to intellectual property, I realized I needed additional training. I worked full time while I attended graduate and law school. In fact, I excelled in school because of the skills I learned on my day job. And I was fortunate that Boeing’s Learning Together Program helped make my educational dreams a reality. My new degrees prepared me to take on more challenging assignments and provided different lenses through which I could connect with technology and help advance the business. In my role in Intellectual Property Management, I know that Boeing’s success depends on nurturing the invention disclosure pipeline. Thanks to my experience as an engineer, I can speak the language of engineering. Thanks to my graduate education, I can help shepherd a technologist’s ideas through the complex submission and patent process. The job’s a good fit: Engineers always try to understand the functional difference between old and new. I work with our inventors to better articulate that “patentable” difference. Successfully turning great ideas into valuable patents depends on good planning, attention to detail, and working well with others. The strength of our patent portfolio sets Boeing apart from our competition. I take great pride in my role here— recognizing the innovation that is constantly taking place around the company, and using it to further our future. n elizabeth.s.davis@boeing.com
Frontiers August 2014 Issue
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