Innovation Management - Essay Example

Innovation Management Question Introduction With the wake of increased competition in the market, businesses have to develop and come up with new products that never existed before or modify the existing ones into a more fulfilling forms. However, an introduction of such new inventions may sometimes meet challenges especially if the government cannot protect the inventors from being copied. Most sovereign states have therefore made a move to ensure this protection by granting the inventors with patent rights.

These are exclusive rights that are provided to the innovator/ creator of a unique product protecting their inventions from modification or copying for a specific period (Fox, 2013:113). Spin-Brush, a unique electric toothbrush received this protection from the United States government that kept it flourishing over its competitors over a great period of time.This right has kept away the many competitors in the market from using the design and packaging of Spin-Brush thereby making the product to remain relevant and outstanding in the market.

The ‘try-me’ design in which Spin-Brush has been devised attracts most customers to it and probably many firms would want to exploit that so they could also drive in many consumers. This has been protected by the patent rights that Osher received. Patent has also made it easy to license it with companies such as Crest. Its value has continued to be high since many competitors are kept away from altering it making it be the only product with those features. Customers therefore find it conspicuous compared to other products due to packaging and design.

Question 2Companies are likely to respond in different ways as they try to counter-neutralise the domination of Spin-Brush so that they may remain relevant in the competitive industry. There is a possibility of lowering the prices of electric brushes that previously sold at higher prices than that of Spin-Brush in order to attract customers. Also, companies are likely to mount promotional campaigns to create awareness concerning their products in the markets (Fox, 2013:147). Spin-Brush producers need to increase even more their advertisements and field demonstrations showing how efficient their product is.

A counter-promotional strategy would work best to minimise rise of these other competitive companies since the design and packaging in which Spin-Brush is made favours it over other players in the industry. Other inventions are more likely to come up in areas that are not covered by the patent right such as technological know-how behind the production. Consequently, the launch of Spin-Brush might heighten competition as the previously dormant companies are likely to get rejuvenated. Osher therefore needs to recognise the high competition levels such that when it gets operation it does not cease to produce even better products that continue to capture consumers.

The strategy should majorly be geared towards increasing value chain in order to rank high above competitors.ConclusionOsher has demonstrated the importance of exploiting new grounds and inventing new products in the market; a competitive market that has great players. Success comes to firms that learn from the past mistakes and strategizes effectively. Osher got their right strategy right after learning about their mistakes in the previous investments. Patent rights also have been demonstrated to be key in protecting invention and innovation for companies that have proved be explorative.

It is has served great role in the maintenance of high value of Spin-Brush since modifiers are kept away. ReferenceFox, D.L. (2013) U.S. patent opinions and evaluations, Oxford, Oxford University Press.