Author Archives: Gerald Barnett

IP in 3D Printing

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

There have been a few articles recently on the growing importance of 3d printing or additive manufacturing. An early, important discussion is that of Kevin Carson on distributed manufacturing, “The Homebrew Industrial Revolution.”  The New York Times and The Economist, … Continue reading →

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High risks

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

There is talk around about “high risk, high return” investments. Here is a thoroughly typical talk by Epic Ventures (web site since abandoned) to a state “Energy Advisory Board.” This is speculative investment capital talk, for the most part, from folks with … Continue reading →

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The Bozonet as a Green Cat

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

To be, in the grass, in the peacefullest time, Without that monument of cat, –Wallace Stevens, A Rabbit as King of the Ghosts I have been playing around with Pearltrees, which is a way of representing bookmarks graphically [ha, not … Continue reading →

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Scorching the 3d printing research community

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

Over at Open 3dp I have posted a manifesto piece on the problems I see developing in university practice in the area of 3d printing.   Being part of an open research project makes it clear how much of a problem … Continue reading →

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Closer to Which Heart?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

Science has recently published an analysis of the Stanford v. Roche case.  AAAS came in as an amicus on the side of Stanford.   The account is useful for what it leaves out and for what it spins.   My comments aim … Continue reading →

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Dealing with the Syndrome of Assumptions

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

There are some assumptions of university technology administration that are worth making visible.  These include: It is better to get an invention disclosure early than later It is better to use a patent monopoly than other approaches It is better … Continue reading →

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The Right Stuff

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

I’m looking for recent stories in which a university technology licensing office “did the right thing” and released its interest in an invention even though it had reason to believe that the invention was not worthless.   I am especially interested … Continue reading →

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Four Ways of Innovation

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

Innovation isn’t a simple topic.  As Benoît Godin has shown, for much of its existence “innovation” was a negative thing.  You didn’t want to be called an innovator, and that’s what you called folks who were loons and threats.  In … Continue reading →

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The Value of Bewilderment

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

Bewilderment, in its ancient and literal sense of being cast away in a trackless wild, was the lot of the explorer…. Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver. Consider discovery from the point of view of research and exploration. Columbus and Shackleton–these were explorers, … Continue reading →

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IP Practice x University Opportunity

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Gerald Barnett

A while ago I wrote about the CANVIS approach to modes of university innovation practice. Even longer ago, I described the five main productive approaches to IP management–WASTE. We can now put these together to frame a matrix of activities … Continue reading →

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