Innovation is a critical component in improving individual and institutional performance. Real innovation is not easy to come by. Innovation is more radical and transformational than improvement. Innovation is content-oriented, whereas improvement is process-oriented. One of the significant products of innovation is globalization. The inspiration for innovation usually stems from a combination of three factors: an urgent and pressing need to bring about a change; how people perceive and pursue that change till the end; and a congenial environment to accomplish that change.
Vartika Srivastava talks about Association of Patent and innovation in her Mondaq article, http://www.mondaq.com/article.