ID Case Study: The Value of Intellectual Property in Innovative Product Development

摘要

A new category in the vacuum cleaner industry was created in 1979 when Black & Decker introduced its first Dustbuster hand vac. B&D sold more than a million Dustbusters in that first year and inspired competitors to rapidly flood the market with knockoffs. Enterprising manufacturers in Asia reverse-engineered the Dustbuster and tried to sell their reproductions in the U.S. market. B&D embraced its intellectual property and successfully litigated imitators because of patents covering its unique appearance and configuration. Eureka saw this new market category as an opportunity to embrace emerging Asia manufacturing, first creating its own hand vac that did not infringe on B&D's patents and then following up with a new product by adding a handle and floor nozzle to introduce the very first light weight battery-operated upright vacuum cleaner. This case study discusses the value of intellectual property in innovative product development.