Why There Is Virtually No Such Thing as a Failed Invention
Eindhoven, Monday, 21 September 2026.
Patent attorney Marco Coolen argues that failed innovations are merely misplaced; repurposing technologies, like celluloid’s shift from billiard balls to film, often sparks unexpected industry breakthroughs.
Redefining Failure in the Innovation Lifecycle
The traditional trajectory of research and development (R&D) often paints a binary picture of success and failure. However, Marco Coolen, a Dutch and European patent attorney at AOMB, challenges this premise [1][7]. Coolen, who celebrated the publication of his 100th column on September 12, 2026—just 9 days ago—argues that “failed” innovations are rarely failures of the technology itself [2][3][7]. Instead, they typically represent a mismatch between the newly developed technology and its initial target market, customer, or intended problem [7]. Rather than abandoning a project when the market response is disappointing, innovators should shift their focus from asking “does my innovation work?” to “where does my innovation work?” [7].
Redefining Failure in the Innovation Lifecycle
To illustrate this, Coolen points to historical precedents like celluloid, developed in the late 19th century [1][7]. Initially engineered as a synthetic substitute for ivory billiard balls due to scarcity and high costs, the material turned out to be highly flammable, unstable, and prone to deformation [7]. While celluloid was an outright failure for billiard games, its core properties—being lightweight, moldable, and mass-producible—later revolutionized the photography and film industries, proving that a technology’s value is often realized in a completely different sector than originally planned [1][7].
Intellectual Property as a Strategic Steering Wheel
Securing intellectual property (IP) is crucial for keeping these innovations within the domestic economy and preventing knowledge flight [2]. Coolen, who advocates for IP as a strategic instrument for startups to attract investors, secure licenses, and build market leads, notes that geopolitical tensions surrounding ASML technology leaks demonstrate how vital it is to maintain control over IP [2][5]. Rather than viewing IP as a legal barrier, Coolen asserts that it acts as a strategic tool that allows organizations to steer open innovation communities and establish ethical frameworks for how their fundamental technologies are used [2].
Intellectual Property as a Strategic Steering Wheel
Furthermore, effective IP management requires engaging employees across all levels of an organization, not just those in the R&D lab [6]. Many valuable innovations originate on the factory floor from service technicians, operators, or buyers who identify practical inefficiencies [6]. By establishing a systematic rhythm to gather these operational insights and raising practical IP awareness, companies can prevent critical details from being prematurely shared with suppliers or competitors, thus preserving their commercial and strategic value [6].
Tactical Alternatives to Traditional Patenting
Not every innovation requires a patent application to be valuable [4]. In some corporate strategies, companies like Google utilize “defensive publication” [4]. This tactic involves deliberately making technical knowledge public to establish prior art, thereby preventing competitors from patenting a similar solution [4]. Because temporary website content or event demos can easily disappear, a structured and traceable defensive publication ensures that the technology remains permanently retrievable, protecting a company’s freedom to operate without the ongoing costs of maintaining a patent portfolio [4].