How to turn inventions into strategic assets
Mr. Oelmann, let’s start with the big picture: No European tech company has emerged as a global market leader in recent decades, Germany’s patent applications have stagnated, while China and Korea are pulling ahead. In your view, what is the reason – money, ideas, or something else?
I don’t believe that we fundamentally lack either money or ideas. The decisive difference lies much more in our innovation culture, our mindset and the incentive systems within companies.
If you look at other innovation ecosystems such as those in the US or Asia, you see a different approach to technology and inventions. Innovation is more strongly understood as a personal achievement, an opportunity and part of one’s own development. In the US, for example, patents are often also a visible element of a person’s career: they demonstrate the contribution someone has made and the ideas they have developed. In many Asian companies, patents are likewise not only used to protect inventions, but also as a strategic indicator of innovative strength. They make visible how much new knowledge and technology is being created.
In Europe, by contrast, inventing is still too often perceived as a process or administrative task. An idea is documented, guided through existing structures and implemented as efficiently as possible – but the people behind it often remain invisible. Yet inventors are the starting point of every innovation and should be made visible and recognized accordingly.
Another factor is that we often think about innovation incrementally: we optimize what already exists instead of deliberately taking greater risks and exploring new paths. That has many strengths, but it can also make it harder for disruptive ideas to emerge. So the key question is not whether Europe has enough ideas or resources. The question is what importance we attach to innovation and inventorship. As long as inventing is primarily seen as a process rather than an achievement, we are wasting potential.
That is an uncomfortable diagnosis for many companies. Did it also apply to Deutsche Telekom before you introduced the Inventor Culture Initiative?
Yes, to some extent it applied to us as well. This became particularly visible during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021 and 2022, we initially had very strong years in terms of invention disclosures. Many employees finally had the time to work through topics and document their ideas. The impression at the time was: people do invent – they simply often don’t have the time in their everyday work to make their ideas visible.
Then came the downturn in 2023. The number of invention disclosures and patent applications fell to a level that was significantly below our expectations. To me, this was a clear warning signal: our inventors were becoming increasingly invisible, and the topic of inventing was receiving less and less attention.
As an initial immediate measure, we doubled the inventor compensation. This had a short-term effect. People became more active again and the numbers increased.
At the same time, however, it became clear that this could not be a sustainable solution. If innovation can only be stimulated through ever-higher financial rewards, you are not creating an innovation culture – you are simply creating additional costs.
The real problem lay deeper. For many people, inventing was no longer a visible part of their work or the corporate culture. There was a lack of attention, networking and appreciation for those who develop and protect ideas.
What did you change as a result?
The realization was: we have to do something differently. That’s how I came across the topic of Inventor Culture. Our goal was to give inventors a platform again. With formats such as the Patent Garage, the Hall of Fame and many other initiatives, we have made the people driving innovation more visible.
We wanted to show what being an inventor can make possible. That inventing is something through which you can make a difference, shape things and attract attention to your ideas. Inventors should once again be seen as a visible part of a community – and not merely as names on a patent application.
Our goal was to shift inventing from an administrative task to a personal achievement that people can be proud of.
What does that look like in practice?
The Inventor Culture Initiative consists of several interconnected measures. It was important to us not simply to launch another patent program, but to create a genuine journey for inventors – from the initial idea all the way to visibility across the company.
The first building block is the Patent Garage. This is where we teach everything people need to know about invention disclosures and patents – from the basics to more advanced topics. Why are patents important? How do I formulate an invention disclosure? What do I need to consider? What happens next in the process? The Patent Garage creates the necessary awareness and gives people the tools they need to get started in the first place.
The second building block is the Inventor Hall of Fame. This gives inventors a platform. We make visible who the most active inventors, the most successful teams and the most important innovation drivers within the company are. The Hall of Fame is presented at major events and is now also displayed as a Wall of Fame at Telekom locations. This creates a clearly defined inventor journey – from the initial idea and invention disclosure to recognition across the company and awards such as the Patent Award.
The third building block is the Inventathon, the central event of the Inventor Culture Initiative. Inventors from different areas of the Group come together, work in deliberately diverse teams on future technology topics and develop new inventions within a matter of weeks. The Inventathon includes a kick-off, joint working phases, a midpoint event and a grand finale. It brings together exactly the elements we want to promote: networking, visibility, community and the concrete creation of new inventions.
Everything is held together by the community. It is the glue between the individual initiatives. People connect, exchange experiences and see that they are not alone with their ideas. Step by step, this creates a culture in which inventing becomes visible again and gains a high level of importance.
Patent and innovation management have existed in large corporations for decades – usually with limited impact. Why should things turn out differently in your case?
Because we approach innovation from an IPR perspective rather than treating it as an end in itself. In many companies, innovation programs generate plenty of ideas, but it often remains unclear what actually comes of them. We have deliberately linked innovation management and IPR management. Our goal is not to generate as many ideas as possible, but to turn ideas into strategic assets.
That means: ideas become invention disclosures, invention disclosures become patents, and patents ultimately become a patent portfolio. This makes innovation not only creative, but also measurable and economically relevant.
At the same time, we start with the inventor. Patents are not created by processes, but by motivated people. That is why we create visibility and community and provide formats that bring people together and motivate them to invent.
That, in my view, is exactly what makes the difference: we are not running an innovation workshop with an open-ended outcome. We connect innovation culture with tangible value creation. This benefits inventors, management and the company alike. The result is innovation that does not merely feel good, but ultimately becomes visible in the form of patents and strategic assets.
Inventions often emerge where the organizational chart doesn’t expect them. What happens when you bring people from network, IT and product development to the same table who would otherwise never meet?
From the very beginning, it was important to us to bring together deliberately diverse inventor teams for the Inventathon. This is one of the key success factors of the format: people with different experiences and professional backgrounds work together on challenges that they would probably never have encountered together in their normal working lives.
Participants come from across Deutsche Telekom’s entire inventor community – from research teams to colleagues in the field who solve technical challenges in practice every day. We deliberately do not bring together experts from just one field. Instead, we create teams in which different perspectives meet.
It is precisely this diversity that generates new ideas. When research perspectives meet practical experience and know-how, approaches emerge that might not have been developed in homogeneous teams.
One example is a team that worked on an idea involving cable distribution cabinets. Because a field service technician happened to be part of the team, the group was able to open a cable distribution cabinet directly and look at the issue from a practical perspective. These kinds of connections between knowledge, experience and application are what make the difference: innovation happens where different perspectives come together.
You say you are rethinking patent management – without spending more money. How does that work?
Inventors do not go the extra mile because of the money. They do it because they have a high level of intrinsic motivation. They want to shape things, solve problems and create something new.
That is why our approach was not to keep increasing budgets, but to improve the conditions for these people. We deliberately worked to make inventing visible and give it a positive profile. This includes the elements I mentioned, such as the Hall of Fame and the community, but also merchandise and events.
At first glance, that may sound secondary, but it creates a sense of identification. People see: I am part of a community of inventors. Inventing has value and status.
Something else interesting happens during the Inventathon: it often doesn’t feel like additional work at all. Participants meet people they would otherwise never have encountered, exchange ideas with colleagues from completely different areas and gain new perspectives on their own topics.
At the same time, the format takes them out of their everyday routine.
Over time, this also creates a company-wide knowledge network. Participants eventually know who has expertise in which technology field and whom they can approach with specific questions. This creates shorter paths, new synergies and connections that have an impact far beyond the Inventathon itself.
But the atmosphere is crucial. We deliberately created an environment that feels different from traditional corporate formats. Fewer committees, fewer rules, more of a “let’s just do it” attitude. People work together as equals, drive ideas forward collectively and, above all, independently – and this allows them to get into a flow.
Sometimes it almost feels like a gold rush. Or like the feeling you get when picking mushrooms: once you’ve found a good one, you immediately want to find the next. One idea leads to two more, one discussion to a new approach. Internally, we sometimes jokingly refer to this as “patent fever.” This dynamic does not come from instructions or targets, but from enthusiasm.
Ultimately, it is about tapping into intrinsic motivation rather than trying to impose innovation from the outside. When people enjoy inventing, are part of a strong community, make new connections and see what they can achieve with their ideas, innovative power almost emerges by itself – without requiring major additional budgets.
Finally, let’s return to the big question from the beginning: If Europe’s problem is inventor culture, could your approach serve as a blueprint beyond Deutsche Telekom?
In my view, the approach is much more transferable than many might initially assume. The key difference is that we do not see innovation merely as a cultural issue. We connect it with tangible value creation from an IPR perspective.
Many companies invest in innovation workshops, hackathons or idea campaigns. These often generate a lot of exciting ideas – but what happens to them in the long term frequently remains unclear. Our approach goes one step further: ideas become invention disclosures, these become patents, and ultimately strategic assets that companies can use over the long term. This makes innovation visible and measurable.
That is also what makes the approach relevant to management. In addition to the cultural impact – greater visibility and recognition for inventors – it produces tangible results that demonstrate the contribution innovation makes to business success.
And this does not require huge budgets or complex structures. What matters are the right formats, a strong community and a culture that encourages people to contribute their ideas.
That is why I believe the underlying principle is universal: make inventors visible, connect innovation with value creation and turn ideas into strategic assets. Not every company needs an Inventathon – but every company can benefit from a stronger inventor culture.
