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The myth of the first-mover advantage

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

Embedded within a story about Predator UAVs is the text:

For his part, Singer draws another historical parallel, comparing the U.S. and the UAV to the British invention of the tank in the early 20th century.

"There is no such thing as a permanent first maneuver advantage," Singer says.

"The British came out of WWI with the most tanks, they invented the tank and yet they didn't figure out the best way to use it in the wars they would be fighting. It was the Germans that figured that out and it was the Germans that would be fighting and would win with the tank when WWII starts."

[Also in warfare, the Japanese, early in World War II exposed the vulnerability of the battleship, a lesson they did not completely master.]

IPBiz notes, of more recent history, that Lipitor was neither the first nor the second statin in the marketplace, but it became the best seller. [Members of the statin generation, and certain IP professors, likely suffering from
amnesia of some sort, tend to overlook this.]

Xerox with the mouse, and the ethernet, is also illustrative. An invention, without a cogent business plan, is likely not going to become an innovation.

****See also

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/09/did-ftc-accurately-recount-history-of.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/famously-bad-predictions.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-happened-to-guy-who-developed.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2005/11/lipitor-doesnt-beat-zocor-in-heart.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/07/do-statins-cause-transient-global.html

****Of Peter Singer

Robotic warfare expert Peter Singer, who advised President Barack Obama's campaign team and has authored "Wired for War," says that remote warfare is changing mankind's monopoly on how conflict is fought for the first time in 5,000 years. All that limits its advance is its application, not the technology.

IPBiz notes Singer (who understands innovation) might be a better choice for USPTO director than Kappos.

Full post as published by IPBiz on July 24, 2009 (boomark / email).