Innovation Literacy Commons™

Most invention and innovation disclosures never find their way into any commercial use. This does not, however, imply that they have no utility. In fact, many times, unused or abandoned IP & R can provide the freedom to operate even in markets where third parties hold active patents and other rights.

The Innovation Literacy Commons™ program at M·CAM provides:

* unparalleled access to the world's patent information and related technology data through educational, governmental, and NGO portals;
* challenge-specific document collections on how people have solved technical hurdles in agriculture, water, energy, transportation, health care, and other critical human needs. These collections can be used as reading materials for developing countries who lack basic content for literacy programs;
* innovator network models, which allow problem solvers from around the world to be proactively identified for existing or future challenges and linked together based on shared creativity disclosures;
* freedom-to-operate Commons where the chilling effect of patent infringement can be countered with public domain or aggregated development option licensing.

We are proud to work with visionary programs like the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA), India's National Innovation Foundation, and others on the democratization of innovation literacy.