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Innovation and Intellectual Property Management (IIPM) Laboratory

Very pleased to announce the publication of our new working paper together with colleagues from Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT, Fraunhofer Group for Innovation Research, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt.

The paper focuses on the early identification of disruptive innovations, which, as opposed to sustaining innovations, bring change to customers, markets, industries. This change is often quite sudden and drastic. Thus, the early identification of disruptive technologies can be crucial for managers and policy makers alike. In this paper we propose a method to support the early identification of disruptive innovations. To do so we conceptualize a 5-phase pathway framework for disruptive innovation, then propose how to operationalize its phases using patent data. We combined the underlying theory by Christensen with different patent indicators from literature to develop an early warning system for disruptive innovations based on the underlying disruptive technologies. Additionally, we introduce the concept of patent zero and provide a first analysis.

The paper should be cited as: 

Martini, M., Tietze, F., John, M., Aristodemou, L., Schönmann, A., & Schimpf, S. (2024). Conceptualizing disruptive innovation paths, patent zero and patent-data based operationalization. CTM Working Papers (5/24), University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.111428

The paper has been accepted and presented at the 2024 ISPIM conference. It is also available via Fraunhofer Publica: https://doi.org/10.24406/publica-3571

News & Blog articles

Newspaper article

2 June 2025

A short opinion piece by Prof. Tietze was featured in the Brussels Morning Newspaper calling for more innovation within our IPR systems to address global challenges: https://brusselsmorning.com/we-need-strong-intellectual-property-rights-for-a-sustainable-future/73186/

Thought piece: Has Innovation Broken Western Culture? Reflections on Contemporary Western Culture and Possible Innovative Ways Forward

20 May 2025

By Frank Tietze (2025) Western culture today is profoundly shaped by ongoing waves of innovation, a concept close to my heart and to which I have dedicated many years of my professional research and teaching career. Technological innovation particularly has transformed daily life, created jobs, and helped build tech...

New paper published on the Geopolitics of Battery Technologies

20 May 2025

Together with colleagues from the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Muenster, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production (FFB) and the Helmholtz Institute Muenster (IMD-4) we have published the results of a patent study investigating the geostrategic race for leadership in...