HEADLINE: Invent Resources VP, CNNfn
GUESTS: Dr. Ze'ev Hed
BYLINE: Susan Lisovicz
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNNfn ANCHOR, ENTREPRENEURS ONLY:

CNNFN
SHOW: ENTREPRENEURS ONLY 21:30:00 pm ET
March 29, 1999; Monday 9:54 pm Eastern Time
Transcript # 99032904FN-L18
TYPE: INTERVIEW
SECTION: Business
LENGTH: 501 words

Ze'ev, we've heard so much about downsizing of America and thus outsourcing more and more. But one would think that innovations, new product development is something central to a company. You really can outsource that?

ZE'EV HED, VICE PRESIDENT, INVENT RESOURCES, INC: Well, apparently you can. A number of companies do and really what's important is the customers - and what they need. If you already have the customers, and distribution channels to these customers you try and find out what else they need. And if you can't develop such products in house, you go somewhere else, for instance to Invent Resources.

LISOVICZ: You are one of four world class scientists, by notes here, who are part of your company. You have been responsible for guiding development of more than 200 products and nearly 100 patents.

HED: That's in our past history, not at Invent Resources.

LISOVICZ: Right. So tell me what the most typical task or invention that you have.

Hed: It ranges all over the place, from, for instance, a new hand dryer, which we are currently developing for a small company, which is the best in the world to another company that came to us and said they wanted a time stamp for computers. It assures that every document or every transaction generated at the computer host, has on it the time at which it was either composed or executed. Whatever the client needs.

LISOVICZ: Very specific invention on demand is possible.

HED: Absolutely.

LISOVICZ: How long does it typically take? And I imagine the fees vary.

HED: The fees depend on the nature of the product itself. It also depends on the markets. Typically there is a fee which is an exclusivity fee and later, when the products are sold, royalties.- to the extent there is a large development, then we may credit parts of the development against the exclusivity fee. We are quite flexible. The type of products are whatever the clients need.

LISOVICZ: The downside though, however, would be intellectual property. How do you resolve that?

HED: There is always the problem that we may invent something which has applications broader than what the clients can afford to pay for. So the clients will take only the field of use in which he is interested and we will retain the rights outside of it. And suppose three years later, you'd like another - the field of use - and it's already taken by someone else. So these are some of the things that we can specify in legal contracts quite easily.

LISOVICZ: And the success of your company has created more competition. Other companies that are doing the same thing - invention on demand?

HED: Right now, we don't know of anyone doing it the way we do, because we do it without any risk to the clients that are coming to us. If we can't - if they come to us and say invent products which will do this and this, we may invest from a man-week to many man-months in developing or attempting to develop the products desired. And if we come up come with nothing useful, there is no cost to the client.

LISOVICZ: We'll leave it at that. Ze'ev Hed, vice president of Invent Resources.