Protect the building blocks, not just the end product
In a series of blog posts, Marco Coolen offers a glimpse into his work as a Dutch and European patent attorney at AOMB.
Published on March 29, 2026
Marco, a patent attorney at AOMB since 2013, shares his expertise on IO+ about patents—how they work, why they matter, and when they lose their value.
Volkswagen understood it early on: customization feels unique to the customer, but the real value for the manufacturer often lies in what doesn’t change every time.
That may sound contradictory, but in practice, it works exactly that way.
Even the most customer-specific product rarely consists entirely of unique components. Beneath the surface, there is often a surprising amount of repetition: the same modules, the same processes, the same smart solutions applied again and again.
We just don’t usually call it reuse. We call it customization.
Marco Coolen, photo © Bart van Overbeeke
The power of platforms
Volkswagen began applying this approach back in the 1970s. Models like the Golf, Passat, and Scirocco appeared completely different, yet shared a remarkable amount of underlying technology. The real breakthrough came later with platform architectures such as MQB and MEB.
Such a platform is essentially a technical base set, a collection of standardized modules on which different vehicles are built. From the same platform, you can create a compact city car, an SUV, or a seven-seater. To the customer, they seem like entirely different models. Technically, however, they share much of the same foundation.
The variation lies in design, interior, and positioning. The repetition lies in what truly matters technically. And that is exactly where the strategic value resides.
Where protection really works
Many companies try to protect the end product. That makes sense, since that’s what the customer sees.
But the end product often changes quickly: new versions, new designs, new variants. As a result, protection can become relatively narrow. The building blocks underneath tend to change much more slowly.
A clever fastening system. A modular battery frame. A specific method of assembly. A particular software architecture. These are the elements that keep recurring. And precisely for that reason, they are the most interesting to protect.
Thinking in modules
Working modularly has another advantage: speed.
When you rely on reusable modules, you don’t have to start from scratch each time. Development time drops. Production costs fall. Quality becomes more consistent. Innovation becomes more efficient.
Instead of solving the same problem ten times, you improve one module that is then used everywhere. The result: a small technical improvement can have a major impact across an entire product line.
The World of Patents
Every Sunday, Marco Coolen shares his insights from the world of IP and patents
The strategic lesson
Many entrepreneurs automatically associate patents with a product. But the real value often lies elsewhere, not in what you create once, but in what you reuse a hundred times. That’s where the power of modular innovation lies.
Those who protect their building blocks are not protecting a single product; they are protecting an entire family of products. And that makes the difference between a patent that is only valuable today and one that continues to deliver value for years.
Volkswagen understood this decades ago: customization sells. But repetition pays.