Apr 11 2024 36 mins 2
In this conversation, Kirk Goodwin, head of global innovation IP at Whirlpool Corporation, shares his insights for ways to drive innovation and get the most out of your IP assets. For most companies, continuing to innovate isn’t just an option. It’s not enough to simply keep pace; you need to stay ahead of the game if you truly want to thrive and be relevant. That’s why driving innovation and maximizing the return on your investments in intellectual property are more important today than ever.
In this episode, Jeff Harty and Kirk Goodwin discuss:
- Driving innovation within an organization.
- Maximizing returns on investments in intellectual property.
- How to know where to innovate.
- Measuring your ROIP (Return on Intellectual Property)—beyond the number of submissions and number of patents.
Key Takeaways:
- Your goal shouldn’t be to simply get patents. Your goal should be to get innovation that you can protect—your intellectual property.
- You grow innovation by protecting intellectual property and then creating additional intellectual property and innovation around the assets you already have.
- We don’t need to incentivize people to innovate, but we do need to communicate where the value can be brought. Innovators want to innovate. Your job is to facilitate that.
- Teach your employees where to be innovative and how to share that innovation.
“IP is not the last step. It is the first step and the second step and the third step and so on. That’s how you continue to grow innovation, by creating those foundations that you protect with intellectual property.” — Kirk Goodwin
About Kirk Goodwin:
Kirk Goodwin is assistant general counsel, Global Innovation IP and Cybersecurity, for Whirlpool Corporation. Previously, Mr. Goodwin served as chief patent counsel, North America, and chief counsel for Global Information Systems for Whirlpool. Mr. Goodwin leads Whirlpool’s team of patent attorneys, agents, and paralegals in various patent functions, including IP clearance, acquisition, technology transactions, and litigation. Prior to joining Whirlpool, Mr. Goodwin was a senior patent attorney for Maytag Corporation, where he led offensive and defensive patent and trade secret litigation.
Connect with Kirk Goodwin:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwgoodwin/
Twitter: @kirk_goodwin https://twitter.com/kirk_goodwin
Connect with Jeff Harty:
Website: https://nyemaster.com/attorney-directory/jeffrey-d-harty/
Email: [email protected]
