How many companies in the past probably wished they’d had a crystal ball to tell them what was coming? We’ve already talked about Blockbuster and how they might have weathered the Netflix storm with a little bit of forewarning. What about Kodak? Wouldn’t a session with a psychic have changed the course of history for the film giant?

Retail companies and restaurants have been under fire from non-practicing entities, or NPEs, in recent years—more so than even the largest tech companies. Though the number of NPEs in existence is relatively small, the number of patents they own and can enforce through litigation is large enough to disrupt business for even the most established online and brick-and-mortar retailers. 

Hoping to Bring Phone Users Closer to The Game,  Whatever Game They’re Playing

We are now in a generation that must always be connected to technology. Whether we are watching a football game on TV, or just trying to get in to our phone to play Candy Crush, we want to be as involved as we can be—at all times. When we watch sports, we want to be a part of the game. Even on Facebook, we want the world to know who are team is. Innovators are listening and starting to work on patents that bring us all closer to world we are living in—our sports world, our Facebook world, or any world we can find on that little screen.

Andrew Levandowski isn’t exactly a household name.  In fact, you may be scratching your head right now, wondering, “Who the heck is he?!”  He is, in fact, the key player in the recent high-profile San Francisco court case in which Waymo (parent company:  Alphabet, Inc.) sued Uber for over one billion dollars in damages.  Levandowski co-founded the self-driving technology company Otto in January 2016, which was quickly snatched up by Uber in August 2016. 

For those who love the wind in your hair, and for those who need a little help for carsickness, innovators have got ideas just for you. Audi’s new convertible could be a flash in the pan, or it could get left in the dust, but Uber’s new idea to help those with motion sickness could lead to popularization of their next big thing—driverless vehicles.

A technology landscape could help you take drastic steps that catapult you above and beyond your competitors. And it’s easy to obtain one, too. IPVision is only one of several firms that can show you the landscape surrounding your current intellectual property.

Samsung is moving to a fuller screen. Facebook is moving deeper into a user’s identity. And Apple is moving clear off the screen! This proves that when it seems there’s nowhere else to go, you can always find some empty space somewhere.

Stop and think for a minute about your bottom line. Is it everything you dreamed it would be? Of course not. You want your business to continue growing. And for that happen, you need to be at the cutting edge of what’s relevant in your field. When you find yourself there, you’ve got a good view of the competition. You want to be at least one step ahead of your competitor, but not everyone knows how to do that.