Eddie Edwards had a dream: he wanted to compete at the Olympic Games.
There was just one problem. Or rather, quite a few.
When Eddie took up ski jumping, he had little money, no national funding and equipment that was far from Olympic standard. His boots were so big that he reportedly wore six pairs of socks to make them fit. His old helmet was held together by string. He trained and competed with borrowed and second-hand equipment while financing his Olympic dream himself.
But along the way, something remarkable happened.
The other teams started helping.
The Italian team gave Eddie a proper helmet. The Austrian team gave him better skis. The West Germans provided a ski-jumping suit. Piece by piece, people around him contributed what they could.
Eddie still had to do the jumping himself.
And he did.
In 1988, Eddie Edwards represented Great Britain in ski jumping at the Winter Olympics in Calgary. He finished last in both events, but that hardly mattered. Eddie the Eagle became one of the most memorable athletes of the Games.
His story is usually told as one of individual determination. And rightfully so. But there is another lesson hidden in it.
Sometimes, determination alone is not enough. You need the right support around you. One person provides the skis. Another the helmet. Another the suit. Put all those pieces together, and suddenly someone gets the chance to fly.
Intellectual property management works pretty similarly.
Great IP does not happen in isolation. The business brings its strategy and five-year plans. Product managers know where products are heading. Development teams know what is being built and where innovation is happening. IP managers bring everything together, while patent attorneys contribute their specialised legal expertise.
Each party has a different perspective. Each one holds a different piece of the puzzle. And for IP to truly support the business, those pieces need to come together.
That is what Patent Cockpit is built for: bringing the different people, departments and perspectives involved in IP management together, so they can work as one team.
Because even an Eagle needs a team to fly.
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