We do a lot of work with entrepreneurs and innovators. Often mature market companies reinvent themselves or leverage expertise to make new things possible. Some newer companies have amazing ideas and get incredible capital backing. None of these companies could survive without a focused dedication to innovation.

Plenty of people throw the term innovation around, but it takes discipline to pursue. Oh…and money. As the recession has hung around this year, many of us have seen U.S. investments in innovation take a hit.

A recent article from CNN Money explored the drop in patent filings in the U.S. You can read the full article here. Patents are not the only indicator of innovation but they are one major indicator of the number of new inventions pursued each year. According to the article U.S. patent filings are down for the first time in 13 years while other countries applications have gone up. This is a concern for those in Silicon Valley, including many companies who are responsible for a wealth of annual filings such as Symantec. In 2009 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revenue from patent filings was down $200 Million. That’s a double-whammy in lost opportunity–lost revenue (and jobs) for the patent office and lost benefit to the U.S. economy from U.S. invention.

I remember traveling to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office with my father. He had drafts of his filings for us to research. He has video footage of inventions from the late 60s that he attempted to patent. He spoke with pride of the patents my Uncle attained for pharmaceutical solutions. There is a passion that comes from invention and the validation and excitement of commercializing those ideas. The Patent office certainly shares this enthusiasm as they’ve begun promotions on a variety of programs including pilots on Green inventions.

For the Holidays this year, we wish everyone and particularly all Modo Modo Agency’s clients a HUGE dose of innovation for 2010.