Invention Disclosures, Patents, and Intellectual Property (IP) Rights
HP gave me a wealth of experience, and I’m grateful to all the managers and wonderful colleagues who supported me along the way. As you may recall, HP’s slogan for a significant period was “Reinvent.” During Carly Fiorina’s tenure, HP accelerated its “Invent” DNA, encouraging technologists and engineers to create intellectual property (IP).
During Subbu’s time in STSD (Systems Technology Solutions Division), we were introduced to the concept of Invention Disclosures in India. HP’s Patent Attorneys even flew in to conduct training sessions on the dos and don’ts of invention disclosures. There were attractive rewards for filing invention disclosures and even more significant rewards if they were selected for further patent filing.
During my tenure at HP, I filed close to 8-10 disclosures. I was fortunate to be the youngest (at 22 years old) in my lab to have filed a disclosure in the HP SNSL division. My first filing was for a “Dynamic Private Email Alias” – a method for dynamically creating an email alias to protect the privacy of recipients and facilitate dynamic chat rooms. Fast forward to today, this concept seems akin to Apple’s private relays or Zoom’s private rooms.
If an invention disclosure was selected for filing, the patent attorney would collaborate with the inventor to draft it in the prescribed format. This process was truly an “Art of Writing,” transforming a single page of ideas into 40-50 pages of detailed documentation. I loved the experience.
Another invention disclosure I filed was for a “Smart Email Composition Engine.” Instead of patenting it, we decided to publish it. The idea was to have a magic “Smart Compose” button in email clients that would automatically create content based on the context and timing of the email. (Does this sound like GenAI-based email writing?)
After several years of filing disclosures and working closely with attorneys, I had the opportunity to join the patent coordinator team, where I reviewed disclosures and recommended them for filing.
HP had robust, well-thought-out processes and avenues to promote inventions and engage engineers. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working there. Thank you, HP.
