Photo: Ford
Not every idea you get is worth filing a patent for, but when you work in an industry as competitive as that of carmaking, it's better if you do it than your nextdoor neighbour. You never know when it'll come in handy.
That's probably how the approximately 1,500 patents granted to Ford employees by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2016 can be explained. Because, let's face it, if the people working for just one company (admittedly a large one) had 1,500 brilliant ideas per year, I would now be writting this material from my comfy condo on the Moon, while you would be reading it on your holiday on Mars.
But this is just the number of patents that were actually granted - in total, over 5,500 Ford employees attempted to get their name featured on the lists of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this year, but roughly 4,000 of the submissions were not taken into consideration.
These numbers represent a 25 percent increase over the previous year in the U.S., while at a global scale, Ford registered over 3,200 patents. That's all peachy, but the real question is this: how exactly do these Ford people want to make our lives better?
Well, you probably don't remember an article from September that talked about the "Further with Ford" event where employees are encouraged to present their ideas or side-projects. There, you could see a few of these patents, and realize how ridiculous most of them are.
For instance, one referred to an onboard water dispenser that captures the air conditioning unit's condensation; another turned your smartphone into a remote control for the car's infotainment and climate systems; finally, the third one was an alternative mobility device that "looked like a Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner." You be the judge of how useful these things really are, but they will definitely not get you to Mars.
Speaking about the achievement, Rah Nair, executive vice president, product development, and chief technical officer at Ford said: “We are living the innovation mindset in all parts of our business across the globe. Our employees are delivering exciting new technologies for our customers at record levels. As an auto and mobility company, this is an exciting time, and our employees are aggressively advancing emerging technologies and increasing our mobility patents at record levels.”
But this is just the number of patents that were actually granted - in total, over 5,500 Ford employees attempted to get their name featured on the lists of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this year, but roughly 4,000 of the submissions were not taken into consideration.
These numbers represent a 25 percent increase over the previous year in the U.S., while at a global scale, Ford registered over 3,200 patents. That's all peachy, but the real question is this: how exactly do these Ford people want to make our lives better?
Well, you probably don't remember an article from September that talked about the "Further with Ford" event where employees are encouraged to present their ideas or side-projects. There, you could see a few of these patents, and realize how ridiculous most of them are.
For instance, one referred to an onboard water dispenser that captures the air conditioning unit's condensation; another turned your smartphone into a remote control for the car's infotainment and climate systems; finally, the third one was an alternative mobility device that "looked like a Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner." You be the judge of how useful these things really are, but they will definitely not get you to Mars.
Speaking about the achievement, Rah Nair, executive vice president, product development, and chief technical officer at Ford said: “We are living the innovation mindset in all parts of our business across the globe. Our employees are delivering exciting new technologies for our customers at record levels. As an auto and mobility company, this is an exciting time, and our employees are aggressively advancing emerging technologies and increasing our mobility patents at record levels.”
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