AbstractThis paper discusses the usefulness of an ontology for TRIZ and is an attempt to provide its readers (researchers, industrialists, educators, students) with answers regarding elementary questions they may have concerning TRIZ groundings and potential uses. These answers have the main objective to clarify how they may locate their perceptions of TRIZ and more easily find a way to contribute to its corpuses’ evolution. An additional section will discuss about a software implementation of these elements through a software prototype built using this ontology. On a longer scale, we are aiming at sharing this ontology with a broader spectrum of research units in various disciplines, debate on its relevance through experiments with industry and further develop it in a collaborative way. A discussion section will then highlight the assets, the limits and the perspectives of having a shared ontology for TRIZ future developments.