What did becoming a recognized innovator mean to you?
Becoming an inventor meant creativity for me. Often times legal isn't seen as a creative department but this entire [Pure Inclusive Innovation] program that the IP Team at Pure Storage has built proves that wrong.

What does being an inventor mean to your team?
From a team it means we have an added incentive to drive innovation forward, and all of the team now want to be onboard this ship sailing forwarded gaining this extra visibility, which will help us move forward as a team in the future and with their individual careers as well as driving the company into the future.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
For me being an inventor means a combination of opening yourself up to being curious about things to both identify and solve impactful problems.My innovator journey has connected me with a wide network of like minded individuals. It's amazing the diversity of people you meet and what inventions can come out of collaborating with them as they'll have problems, approaches or ideas that you might not have considered on your own. One example is a patent I did on a keyboard design that helped people learn how to type.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
I always think of 2 permanent goals in my life - continuous learning and giving back to the world. Becoming an inventor fits into both these goals perfectly for me. I believe as an inventor, one has the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible and make significant contributions that will shape the future of the entire industry impacting a lot of lives and making them better. Being an inventor also means that one is in constant pursuit of innovation which cannot happen without continuous learning, and this is where I find my zen. Personally, I am also driven by a desire to create something new, make profound contributions to human progress and advancement and get that sense of fulfillment which all of us strive for.

What does being an inventor mean to you?
Novel ideas are what make you an inventor. However, to even know whether an idea is novel within a field/domain, one needs to be familiar enough with that domain, and know its basic challenges and problem areas. Hence the process of creativity first begins with learning. When one's learning crosses a threshold, one starts to see patterns in the domain and gets ideas about how various concepts link together and can become a new idea. Being recognized as an inventor validates one's creativity, empowering to do more.

What does being a recognized innovator mean to your family and community?
My parents were excited that I was so excited! I think all parents wish for their children to be doing the work they enjoy.

What does being an inventor meant to your family and community?
My kids have bragged to their friends at school that I have a patent. My mom knows and I think I’m the first in my family to get one. So that’s pretty cool for her when she talks to her friends about her son. I sent her a copy so she knows it is real. It’s probably up on her wall next to the rabbit I finger-painted in school.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
Submitting our invention gave us some great kudos from the teams and valuable networking, with many other members of staff. It’s also given the team and myself greater confidence in our abilities. We have regularly come up with ideas and then had concerns about creating them or submitted these, as were worried about failure and the visibility or issues this may causes. The fact our first one went in and was approved, and that we have started to see significant interest and sales, has given us the incentive to put further processes and inventions into the system. We now believe these inventions can improve the lives of our customers and solve specific business challenges they have.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
For me being an inventor means a combination of opening yourself up to being curious about things to both identify and solve impactful problems.My innovator journey has connected me with a wide network of like minded individuals. It's amazing the diversity of people you meet and what inventions can come out of collaborating with them as they'll have problems, approaches or ideas that you might not have considered on your own. One example is a patent I did on a keyboard design that helped people learn how to type.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
I believe that innovation is the key to solving any problem big or small, and I am driven by a desire to bring out a different way to solve a known problem every time. This is the reason I think that others perceive me as a creative individual who has lots of ideas and who is not afraid to try out new implementations. I often get praises on my ability to come up with fresh and innovative ideas and my willingness to work collaboratively to turn into tangible solutions. Personally, I take pride in how I try to create novel solutions and would like to continue learning and remain committed to try and make a difference.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
I did feel a bit of pride becoming an inventor. Submitting the disclosure form was a small hurdle because Pure makes it so easy. Then the Pure Patent team did all the hard work fishing a better idea out of my head and documenting it for the patent application. Three years later, receiving the patent was very rewarding. I told my mom. I keep my patent trophy on a shelf next to the two IPO trophies I received for helping launch two companies onto the public stock market.

What has becoming a researcher/inventor meant to you?
For me it means to continue being curious and exploring new ideas. This does not only benefit the company I am working for but also allows me to continuously improve my knowledge around a wide range of topics

What does being an inventor mean to you?
What started as an attractive incentive program for me in 2002, ended up being a way of life in my professional life []. Ever since 2005 I have been an inventor and also a champion of my employers' IP programs. It has opened up a new world, a new mindset for me. Keeping abreast of what could be possible, while at the same time delivering projects with high intellectual property value has now become part of my job description.

What does being an inventor mean to you?
My innovation story began with a realisation that there are unsung technical heroes right in the middle of us. Throughout my career, I've been privileged enough to work alongside many of these heroes and innovators who are at the helm of their respective cutting-edge fields. These individuals have contributed so much to not just innovation, but even the entire culture of their respective organisations. Over time, I've come to realise that innovation is the catalyst to fulfilling dreams. It's through innovation that we're able to create new solutions and push the boundaries of what's possible. I simply aspire to keep learning from people around me and try to innovate as best as I can for every problem I approach.

What does being an inventor mean to your family and community?
As the middle kid in my family my grandfather always thought of me as the confused kid in the family. I don't blame him as at an early age I tried a bunch of things and then dumped most of them half way through. I still remember how happy he was to see the new inventor kit from my company when I filed my first patent. And my parents have accepted that I was a little gifted when it comes to computers as I was one of those students who wasn't great at anything else other than the computers.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
We’re all inventing at [][my company], every day. Sadly most do not realize the low barrier separating them from those of us with a Patent. I do what I can to inspire and motivate others to submit disclosures. I helped one person write one. I remind my teams quarterly to try to submit. One of my staff is submitting every quarter now! I hope these efforts help people perceive my inventor status as nothing special.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
Previous to our first invention being approved, my team had never really wanted to submit anything, due to concerns about the possible negative impact that may result if it was not a success. With this first patent, we have put this concern behind us and are driving forward and hope to submit a few more ideas in the near future. The help and advice of the patent team has massively helped give us confidence in our abilities, as has as the slick process they have developed. The team and myself believe we are seen and perceived as the goto experts in many areas of technology and much of this could be attributed or linked to this first patent.

What has being an inventor meant to your family and community?
My family directly benefited from the patent awards I received ... they helped increase the downpayment on my home. This helped me put down more permanent roots in my community. We needed increased space at the time due to my third child on her way. My family know that I have received patents, and they know that my employer is happy with me. I have applied my engineering mind to help solve problems in my condo community and church, and have seen some benefit there.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
As an engineer you are usually stuck in an endless cycle of building the next billion dollar product and in the world of every evolving and every updating software, most of our work is never permanent. But when you become an inventor and build something which no one ever thought of, you make a permanent mark of your existence in the tech industry. I still remember how happy I was when I filed my first patent back in January, 2022 which was a moment of great joy and pride. And as time went by, I filed multiple patents and I felt more confident and more accomplished.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
Merely having a novel idea while keeping it to yourself doesn't get one recognized as an inventor. One needs to have the confidence to put their idea out there, shop it with other folks in the know, risk rejections and failure. One's first few iterations or attempts may not be as successful, but at some point one crosses that threshold of novelty and comes out a winner at the other end. As an inventor, I perceive myself as someone who can take existing ideas and build a new solution that is useful. As far as others' perception of me, I would think they view me as a valuable contributor worthy of standing and fighting alongside them in this good fight for building disruptive technology.

What does being an inventor mean to your team?
From a team it means we have an added incentive to drive innovation forward, and all of the team now want to be onboard this ship sailing forwarded gaining this extra visibility, which will help us move forward as a team in the future and with their individual careers as well as driving the company into the future.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
When I was about 5, my classmates wanted to be firefighters or racecar drivers or zookeepers. I wanted to be an inventor. I was always making things out of LEGO or KNEX and using my imagination to make them function as they should. So I'd say its been a lifelong dream. I'm really glad that the legal team at my company smooths out the process and makes it a lot easier to focus on inventing things.

What does being a recognized innovator mean to your family and community?
My parents were excited that I was so excited! I think all parents wish for their children to be doing the work they enjoy.

What did becoming an inventor mean to you?
I worked on my first patent application while at my first job out of college (second employer, acquisition involved) because the other inventor explicitly said I needed to learn how to do it. My grasp of technology was rough, the subject matter was not as useful as I thought it was, and the patent is now abandoned. But it was a first. I was blessed with the opportunity to work on a number of patent applications; I find it a good test of being able to communicate technical ideas to someone who has not been exposed to it before and seeing what they understand. I highly recommend reviewing patent applications you are involved in because it gives you an opportunity to learn patent speak in the only place where you should be (voluntarily) reading a patent.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
I am 28 years old so as a young inventor, I feel more confident showcasing my ideas on different forums. When I share with others like I have 9 patents people look at me as if I am some genius but that's really not the case and I am just an engineer with some out of the box ideas. The perseverance with which people see in me allows me to grow the sense that you can do more in less time in the industry and make a permanent impact.

How do you perceive yourself as an inventor?
It is my hope that my small achievements can serve as an inspiration to anyone. My family is always extremely proud of whatever I do and I am equally proud of them always. However nothing would give us more satisfaction and sense of fulfilment if I am able to motivate someone towards incorporating innovation in their personal and professional lives. We truly believe this is the way forward and it actually has been like this forever. Humans have always forged their way forward through innovations and inventions - starting from creating a fire to a wheel to huge architectures to machines now that can do probabilistic predictions of situations. Every innovation contributes to our growth and I personally hope to continue to try and work towards helping pave the way for a brighter future for everyone.