1.)The purpose of a product or a process is its function. If the function of a product or some of its parts is not required the product or the parts in question are not needed.

2.)The laws that the development of technical systems are following are explicitly described.

3.)Opportunities for innovations are based upon the existence of technical conflicts.

4.)A conflict can be made obvious pedagogically through intensifying and through the amplification of SIZE,TIME and COST.

5.)Relaxing of a conflict has to be done through a new technical solution. A technical conflict can never be relaxed through compromise, optimization or negotiation.

6.)The main innovative principles to relax a technical conflict are:

          Separation in time,

          Separation in space,

          Separation  through inner structure.

7.) 40 innovative principles to find solutions relaxing technical conflicts are presented.

8.) 1350 physical, chemical and geometric phenomena and effects are presented.

9.)There is also a database connecting conflicting technical parameters (39 in total) and the 40 innovative principles. This is done by telling which of the principles that in previous innovations have been used to relax each conflict.

This list of fundamental principles is set up by prof. Gunnar Sohlenius March 9, 1998 after reading Kreativ Problemlosning by O.Berg and J.Burvall. The theory of inventive problem solving was proposed by G.S.Altshuller.