Evolution and Trends Regarding the Concepts of Innovation and Invention

Abstract

The paper is focused on analyzing the difference between the concepts of innovation and invention in terms of trends and evolution. The research is centered on innovation with invention being a benchmark for validating results. An economic perspective regarding the differences between invention and innovation is presented. The differences between the two concepts are also analyzed from a legal point of view. The number of references to the concept of innovation, made into a large corpus of books, is analyzed from an evolutionary perspective. The concept of invention is also analyzed in terms of number of occurrences in books. A pattern is drafted for both innovation and invention. The paper tackles the interest shown by the online community in innovation compared to the interested showed in invention. Relevant data sets depict the world's most interested online communities in innovation and invention. Online communities are analyzed by country and by city. Online communities' interest in innovation and invention is measured using statistics regarding Google searches. Events that triggered picks in interest shown towards one concept or the other are identified and portrayed. Data from relevant reports that are publicly available is presented.Keywords: Innovation, Invention, Search Trends, Public Data1 Innovation and InventionI nnovation and invention are two different notions that should not be seen as equivalent. Invention is the first occurrence of a new idea or a new concept in regards to a product or a process [1]. Invention is not a random process but is the result of research, study or repeated attempts. Invention must be distinguished from discovery. The latter involves finding or highlighting conditions or facts still unknown. An invention has to be unique worldwide where as an innovation has to be unique locally, in a certain region or area.Innovation is the implementation of an idea or an invention which leads to improving and perfecting a product, a method, a theory or a service with the sole purpose of accomplishing, at a higher standard, the objectives that were originally designed for [2]. From an economic point of view an innovation is regarded as an invention that has been successfully implemented and generated added value, profit, higher income or superior quality. Innovation must have a positive impact on society, economy and the political sphere. Not all inventions have the merit to be considered innovations. In the IT industry new software applications or new versions of a product are launched on the market every day. Some are adopted by users and gain notoriety but most disappear into anonymity.From a legal point of view the distinction between innovation and invention comes from the fact that innovation is an improvement, a refinement of a product or technology, but only locally while the invention has to be new worldwide [3].According to criteria depicted in Table 1 the only common element between innovation and invention their random nature. Thus both innovation and invention occur in certain scenarios as a result of random processes. Innovation and invention evolved separately and have known distinct purposes and notoriety in society. Innovation was initially regarded as a useless and damaging novelty. In the 18th century innovation was identified with the introduction of anything deviant in political affairs and in religion. Innovation was considered heresy [10].2 Evolution of Occurrence in BooksBooks are a relevant indicator for determining the evolution of society's interest related to certain subjects and topics. When certain concepts are of interest they generate literature to fuel that interest. Google has setup a project to scan books and makes the content available online. For books that are no longer subject to copyright legislation the entire content is available. For books that are protected by copyright only sample content is publicly available. …