What is the difference between an invention and an innovation?
An invention is a technical solution to a specific problem. This means that the invention must relate to the physical world. Inventions are either products or processes. Product inventions include, for example, machines, chemical substances, electronic components, and often also microorganisms, plants and animals that have been made or modified by man. Process inventions include, for example, physical or chemical methods of manufacture, transformation, measurement, control or others useful in production. Only products or processes made or modified sufficiently by man can qualify as inventions. Products or processes already existing in nature are not inventions. An innovation is the development of a solution to a technical or organizational problem. It may consist of or include an invention, although many innovations, even if commercially valuable, will not qualify as inventions for the purposes of patent law.
