Dr. Frank Wan began his sharing by expressing concept of Innovation. Innovation does not mean creating new ideas; it means turning the creative ideas into money and wealth.

He pointed out that granting legal protection for Intellectual Property provides an incentive to encourage innovation. That is why we need Intellectual Property Right. He then introduced to us four principle forms of IP protection: copy right; patents; trademark and trade secrets. Patent is a useful tool for IP protection; however, patent procurement involves a long and complex process. Therefore if we have an invention with good commercialization potential, we shall make good decisions on the type of patent for filing and act fast before the novel invention become out of date. Nevertheless, patent is not the only way to protect IP. Dr. Wan then shared an interesting story of Myriad Genetics on turning an invalidated patent into trade secrets which subsequently led to a successful business. 

In the end, Dr. Wan made an interesting comparison between a smart person and an intelligent person. An intelligent person can come up creative ideas and make breakthrough discovery while a smart person who “smell money” all the time is able to translate creative ideas and innovative invention into money. Let’s be smart!