1. Patent: the key to technology

We'll continue with the previous example of the light bulb manufacturer [ , § 5] by searching for information describing the technologies used to create the link between the lamp and the elements transmitting electricity to operate it.

At this level, there are several possible options, often linked to the type of technology being studied:

• or there are general technical data describing the possible technique(s) (in our case, we would need to find publications specializing in the production of light bulbs);

• or call in the experts (this is possible, but experts often know their own technologies inside out and are biased when it comes to other solutions; this is often described as the not invented here NIH complex);

• analyze existing technologies....