How to Turn Your Innovation into a Patent

The large majority of independent inventors are now acquiring a patent on their own. Lawyers are often extremely expensive and make a profit regardless of if your product takes off or not. If your invention ends up failing, you threw all that money out the window for nothing. The skills needed to work the patent system are not “legal” skills and anyone can figure it out with a little guidance and instruction. The process may not be as easy as following the recipe for baking chocolate chip cookies. However, if carefully approached one step at a time, the task is less daunting. This is a brief look at the basic steps you should follow before obtaining a patent application.

1. Keep a detailed record of your invention

Keep track of EVERY phase of the invention process. Describe and illustrate every facet, every scenario, and every adjustment made on the invention. Make sure you include how the idea popped into your head, as this is important for building on. You may also want to create and test a prototype. Record all of these efforts. Sign and date each entry. The patent application is likely to go smoother if all data is in order. Make sure you receive feedback from colleagues and friends. The more recommendations and opinions given to you will help shape your ideas and acknowledge other viewpoints.

2. Make sure your invention will qualify for patent protection

You cannot simply patent an idea. The inventor has to demonstrate how the invention functions and your invention must be original. It must be significantly different in some vital way from all previous patents. No two patents can be alike so make sure that you check to make sure no one before you has already come up with the idea. It also cannot be for sale or be known by the general public before you apply for a patent.

3. Evaluate the commercial interest of your invention

Applying for a patent is a major financial decision. Even without a patent attorney, it costs a significant amount of money to file and acquire a patent from the USPTO. Before you put all your effort and money into filing a patent, you should complete thorough research to assure it will have market appeal. Look at previous inventions and consumer trends to help decide whether it's worth the business venture or not.

4. Complete a detailed patent search

To insure your invention is unique, you need to search all the earlier developments linked to your invention. This involves searching patents from the U.S. database and sometimes foreign countries, as well as other scientific journals, to find related inventions. This will probably be the most time consuming part of the process. This is where most professional workers come into play. However, no one knows your inventions as well as you do so you’re the best person for the job. Nowadays, most of the information is online, but more research can be done at a Patent and Trademark Depository Library. When you search, you will probably find other inventions that are comparable to yours. You should mention this in your application. You need to prove how your invention improves upon or is different from earlier patents.

5. File an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office

When you file with the USPTO, you can either file a regular patent application or a provisional patent application. A provisional patent application is not an actual application for the patent itself. Filing one of these out simply allows you to claim patent pending status for the invention. It involves less work and costs less than a regular patent application. It basically says you claim rights to this idea. All that is required to file a PPA is a fee, a thorough description of the invention, explaining its purpose and how to make it, and a basic illustration. Then, you must file an RPA within a year of filing the PPA. If you don't, you can no longer claim the PPA filing date or you have to pay a fee to renew it. Filing an RPA starts the examination process at the USPTO and that's what’s required for getting the actual patent.  This is where they complete a background check of all previous inventions and make sure your idea is different from everything else they have in the database. If they deem it a worthy new innovation, then congratulations, your product is on its way to being patented.

For more information visit http://www.uspto.gov

The Golden Age of Inventing is Nonexistent

Cell phones nowadays can do pretty much anything besides microwave popcorn. Surely we are living in a time where inventors are having more success than ever, right? Wrong. In this article written by Adam Davidson, he sees both sides of the argument. He lets the reader decide which side he or she wants to believe. The question he presents is, “Do we live in a time where inventors have the most opportunity to be successful?” On every second Monday of each month, inventors from far and wide come to present their ideas and receive feedback at the Inventors Association of Manhattan. The independent inventor has never had easier access to gaining information and investigating market trends. With virtually everything online, just a click away, we often take for granted how convenient this is. However, one obstacle that prevents most innovators from making big money is established corporations sweeping in and stealing their ideas. They cheat the system and add slight adjustments to make it legal. Because they have already made a name for themselves in the business world, they are more often trusted. Their actions seem corrupt, but they have earned their high ranking in the business community for a reason. They’re going to take what they want no matter what the outcome is for the inventor. In my opinion, I don’t believe there is or has been any golden age of inventing.

Everything is situational. When the caveman invented the wheel, this innovation was considered groundbreaking and changed the way of life significantly. Fast forward hundreds of years to when we invented the cell phone, this device has altered modern communication as we know it. It all depends on the perspective of the public at the time. If history tells us anything, it’s that we continue to progress with technology and fifty years from now we’ll have new and improved material to further advance our expectations. There can never be a defined golden age of inventing. It is a field that at no time is stagnant. One new idea could set fire to a whole new market we never knew existed. It is this exciting revelation that keeps the field fresh and full of promise.

Another point that is worth noting is the significance of the inventions. Independent inventors are talented at thinking outside the box and displaying their creativity. However, many of the products they create are not exactly life changing. Take the Snuggie for example. I think our society would've gotten along just fine if this sleeved blanket never came to existence. One could make the argument that it’s the golden age of quirkiness but in terms of vital, life altering inventions, those are a lot more difficult to find.

One thing that has always remained true in inventors is their confident, undeterred spirit. The man who patented the pet rock comes to mind. I’m sure he received laughs from family and friends and criticism at how silly the idea was. He knew in his gut he had a winner and he ended up making millions. This perseverance is undeniable among inventors. And it’s not just today’s innovators who are like this. Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci, all these famous inventors in history shared this passion and willpower. It’s not relative to any specific “golden age.” All inventors carry the same mind set no matter what period they live in.

Selling your product to a retailer is the most difficult thing for an independent inventor. Walmart, Kroger and Target control about a fifth of all United States in store sales (newsweek.com). If you can’t get your product on one of these shelves or on television, it is going to be a struggle making money. The entrepreneurial landscape is not dominated by small inventors; it’s dominated by capitalistic corporations. Patents are very expensive to get nowadays. Inventors are weary about putting their idea out there because if it falls through, they could be out quite a bit of money. The average cost for a patent is about $10,000 (www.richardspatentlaw.com). The cost of patents is greater than the revenue they generate in most cases. “About 97 percent of patents generate less revenue than the patent costs" (Sacramento Business Journal). This amount can be overwhelming for independent inventors who are on the fence about their product.

People take for granted how technology makes life so much easier. However, without the early innovation of inventors before us, this progress wouldn't have been accomplished. I believe the main principle of inventing is building off what we previously had. This allows us to continually evolve and develop. This process never stops and is the reason why we will never experience one particular golden age.

Searching for the Next Snuggie: Is This Really the Golden Age for Inventors?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/is-this-really-the-golden-age-for-inventors.html?_r=0

Entrepreneurship vs. Inventions

Innovative thinkers; it is these people who have a vision for the future and lead us to it. They take conventionality and laugh in its face. Their boldness and charisma are examples for everyone. Innovative thinking is what propelled us to use tools rather than our bare hands, to discover fire, invent the wheel, and create the airplane. Innovative thinkers dare to say no to social norms and embrace individualism. Coming up with new ideas is the most critical component to keeping the technological train rolling. One could argue that the 21^st century has witnessed the greatest inventions in history. All of which started out as some crazy, far-fetched idea.  If we were to go back in time to the 1930s and tell that generation that one day there will be a device used to look up any question or interest and receive an answer in a matter of seconds, they would probably look on it with disbelief. Take the 1930’s generation and go to the 1820s, and tell the people of that generation that one day horses will no longer be needed for transportation. Instead, people will be able to control and ride in metal machines in order to go from point a to point b. They too would find this idea difficult to believe. All outlandish technological advances seem insane when first discussed. However, if you look in the side view mirrors, the future could be sneaking up behind you.

            

There are a vast amount of inventions and technological advances out there that years ago seemed improbable.  As the human race continues to advance, the bar continues to be raised on what’s considered groundbreaking. Whether you are in the field of marketing, advertising, entrepreneurship, or engineering, everyone is searching for an innovative idea that will separate them from the competition and punch their ticket to success. Even the simplest thing could change life as we know it. This is not an overnight process either. Years of brainstorming, implementing the plan, and pitching it to investors are all necessary to making something realize its full potential. That goes with anything you care about and believe has a bright future. You want to ensure that it is getting the best chance possible. 

The process of turning a dream into a reality can be compared to a seed and its transformation into a plant. It starts off small and insignificant, with great hopes that it will evolve into something great. You can make predictions and put in all the necessary work to help it succeed, but there is always the chance that it might fail. You water it and pamper it daily, and the seed starts to grow and develop into something new. Like an idea for an invention, you begin to understand this thing has a chance. It is that excitement that propels you forward. As the seed turns into a plant and grows and grows, its full potential is realized. All the work leading up to the growth of this plant is what made it transform from nothing into something. If you truly believe you have a spectacular idea, you are going to do everything in your will power to see it to fruition.

Entrepreneurs can relate to the process of undertaking new innovations. The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is starting a new business. Through collaboration of ideas and projections, ideas take off and are converted into lucrative gain. Inventors and Entrepreneurs are intertwined. They both pursue an opportunity without regard to what anyone else thinks. Each requires equal amounts of creativity and drive. Three entrepreneurs in history who reflect this way of thinking are Joseph Schumpeter, Frank H. Knight and Peter Drucker. Schumpeter defined an entrepreneur as a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation. He calls it, “the gale of creative destruction.” This is where you replace inferior innovations across markets and industries, simultaneously creating new products including new business models. In contrast to other entrepreneurs, Schumpeter believed entrepreneurs did not bear risk, only the capitalist did. He saw entrepreneurs as the brains behind the scenes and that was it.  Knight and Drucker played devil’s advocate to this rationale. For them, entrepreneurship is all about taking risk. They believe that you have to be willing to put your career or financial security on the line and truly stand behind your idea. The time you spend on the idea is just as important as the capital when you’re exploring an uncertain venture.

The person I did my interview with is Dr. Michael Paige. For the last ten years, Dr. Paige has been a dean at Endicott College. Prior to that, he was president of a startup in Manhattan, based on an intellectual product that came out of Columbia, called Software Play. The professors that created it needed someone to run the company so that was where he came in. And before that he was head for Xerox in one of their advanced think tanks where they chartered for building products ten years into the future. The Ethernet and laser ink printing both came out of this organization. Dr. Paige knows a thing or two about innovational thinking. After that venture he was president of a large film company where he was making all the digital equipment and was part of the transition between film products going all digital. His forte is digital technology in a fast moving environment. “If you’re not pushing the envelope; if you’re not pissing someone off, you’re probably not doing a good job.” This is what Dean Paige said in regards to being a successful innovative thinker. I conducted this interview to get his very knowledgeable outlook on entrepreneurship and inventing.

Q. What would be the common goal of entrepreneur? What do they all want to achieve?

A. Make money. Ya know some would say save the world or ya know improve the climate or make everyone taller or shorter. But making a business out of this thing is not a bad deal. Money is the way we keep score when comparing good ideas versus bad ideas. Ultimately, it’s to make an impact, that’s what an entrepreneur wants to do.

Q. What are some techniques used to achieve this wealth?

A. The problem is… Well let’s go back for a minute. There’s a lot of ways to be innovative. It isn’t necessarily a thing. I mean Starbucks; the way they used innovation is to give their part time employees benefits. And you go, why does that make it great? Because now you got this happy kind of person who is serving people at Starbucks. The kind of person who is serving you or making the coffee is a way different cut than you’d get at McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts. This better way of treating their staff reflects back on their product. And that’s an innovation in its self. Another great example is Microsoft, when they brought office suite together, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, they could always transfer files and that made it unbeatable. There are products out there that compete individually but because they fully integrated it this became an innovation and made it really stand the test of time.

Q.  Yeah, you mentioned it a little bit, but could you talk about the process of taking a good idea, a creative idea and actually turning it into a profitable product?

A. Well I could tell you from my own experience. Because I’ve been brought in as a president of a startup where there’s a bunch of really bright guys, who’ve got this really cool idea, ya know but to make it into a business, that requires paying the rent, and paying salaries and making sure there’s a marketing plan and making sure the investors are being satisfied so there is an element of management required to move things forward. In many cases the guy with the creative idea, really can’t drive the company. We had a great example with Steve Jobbs, he was the first, he was the head of apple, he got to a point where he was just creating but they were afraid he couldn’t run the company. He was removed and came back and said haha cause he really ran the company great. But the truth is he really, he was more of the creative guy. Then he morphed himself into the super manager. But often times you have to remove the creative creator from managing the company. Managing isn’t necessarily creative. A lot of it is just dotting I’s and crossing T’s.

Q. You talked about Steve Jobbs and his innovative thinking. With him no longer in the picture where is the field heading nowadays? Compared to where it’s been in history?

A. What field?

Q. Entrepreneurship, inventing, where is that train of thinking today as opposed to where it was 20, 25 years ago?

A. Well we seem to have the three hot areas. They are clearly bio tech related, cause were all interested in health and learning about getting older. And the mapping of DNA and all that stuff. That’s a hot hot area. Second area has been around for a bit but hasn’t really been fully tapped. And that’s all digital technology. Everything has gone digital. So now you’re recording this conversation on an iphone and ya know pretty soon are we even going to need a laptop anymore? You can do so much on that little thing. It makes you wonder what the hell you’re even doing on a laptop (laughs). So the digital media is hot, bio tech is hot and actually those two are converging because a lot of the devices if not all of them are digital. And energy would be the third one. We really need energy because without that we wouldn’t be able to recharge that stupid battery (pointing at phone).

Q. (Laughs) So there are three types of entrepreneurship, social, political and knowledge. Could you talk about those a little bit?

A. (Pause) Well they’re actually three parts of the same deal, social, political and knowledge. Knowledge, that’s the easiest one, which is looking at what we already have, sifting through this and discovering combinations that no one’s explored. Or frankly, your iphone and search and all that stuff, the fact that we can now have tons of stuff out or online. And with social entrepreneurship they actually go hand and hand. When you make a major technological change it has social implications because you’re carrying around that rather silly flat device which you think of as a phone. It doesn’t contour to your ear, you keep it in your back pocket and that has caused a social change in you. And speaking on a large scale, it’s caused a cultural change. Political is half way in between the two, like we saw in the last political election with Obama tapping into the grass roots through small donations from quadzillions of people. So they’re all kind of merging together and they have different impacts. One is trying to improve the world; one is trying to improve our lives. So I guess you can tell the differences between the three at some points, but then you can’t tell in others.

Q. Switching gears a little, could you talk about the process of obtaining a patent? Do entrepreneurs have to go through the same process as an inventor?

A. That’s the only thing you got. At the end of the day all you have is the idea. And it’s this idea that is worth so much money. Inventors have to do it to protect this amazing asset and idea. But a company really has to protect it because literally that’s the one thing you have to protect it. Because any other company can copy. I mean looking at Apple and Samsung and the current lawsuit claim is that Samsung is copying a lot of the same interface stuff and the way they do things from Apple. And Apple says hey that’s unique to me. This case has gone back and forth but that’s a major issue. Apple claims it was patented. So you have to patent your ideas. Unless you strategically decide against it and what I mean by that is when you file for a patent, its available to the public, so the public knows this is your idea and they can look at that idea and go hey I know what he’s thinking and I know where he’s likely to go next and you really reveal your hand. So a lot of companies have a very strategic decision. Do you go for the patent and announce it to the world or do you literally go in a stealth mode and try to keep so far and so fast ahead of them that even if they figure out what you’re doing, you’re five or six years ahead of them.

Q. Has there ever been an idea or business startup that you said they don’t have a chance, and five years down the road, you look back and see wow that actually took off?

A. I think the thing in front of you (laughs). At the time the iphone move happened, everybody was going into contour phones, ones that sort of fit your hand in your ear. And this thing came out different then everyone else with this flat surface. They envisioned something beyond a phone. They said this is going to be a data center. I mean you can’t seem to invent smaller fingers, were limited by our own physicality. So they kind of pioneered something here. (Pause) I’ve seen ideas that I couldn’t believe were going to happen and then they turn out to be like everybody’s gotta have it. I thought the ipad when I first saw it, I couldn’t quite figure out where it was going to fit, it wasn’t a laptop and it wasn’t a phone, and really it’s only good for email and internet surfing. And now Microsoft took to it and said this is now the new format, this is the new bar.

Q. Looking at the iphone or other product startups what are some of the risks a company would have before the product hits the big time?

A. It depends on who you are. If you are the first mover, what I mean by first mover is the first person moving this idea to the market. It’s really a strange deal. You gotta educate the market as to why this is important and to why you should be abandoning the other technology. So that is a very strategic move. You gotta put a lot of money investing and convincing the market that they’re really gonna want this thing, that there is a need for it, of course now your showing the world your hand. Okay so you’re going to have to spend a lot of money very quickly to get it out there. Because the bigger community of users gets, the more it catches on. And then once people get on board, the idea gets built off of, like the accessory business for that case on your phone. That size phone is becoming the standard. Apple is the one that introduced this technology. They’re gonna get you to buy it and then create a compelling argument why you need all this other stuff for it. With the apps in particularly, they’ve become really powerful but now they gotta move faster than the entire market does. So as soon as you show your hand, you gotta be running extremely fast.

Q. Do you think it’s more difficult or do you think you’re better off starting an entirely new market or joining a market and adding on to it and trying to be the best player in that category?

A. Depends on how much nerve you got. There are a lot of companies that created markets that are now toast.  A stupid example, disposable baby diapers. The company that first introduced this product was a company called Chucks. No one knows who the hell they are anymore but Pampers came in later and now they own the market. Tivo, they were the first company to come up with a software package that allows you to customize your search for TV programs. You could say I want all the movies with Brad Pitt in it, or I want all the movies by this director and you could program this Tivo box and it would grab these things for you so you can store it and play it whenever you want it to. Great idea, but now everyone does it. The first guy in, doesn’t always win. It requires a great deal of corporate drive and resources to get in and own the market and then keep ahead. Apple created all these innovative products and now they’re under incredible attack by everyone else because now everyone is in this smartphone market. You see Apple’s stock shares going down, still great company but they’re losing money cause everyone is competing with them.

Q. If I’m pitching a new idea to a company, what are some of the things they would be looking for to make sure they want to put a good investment into your product?

A. You. The companies I’ve been involved in, things that I’ve been engaged in… You’re not betting on that thing, you’re betting on you to make that thing work. So you’re as much selling yourself as the product because there is gonna be some “oh shit” moment that comes up and they want to see that you can roll with the punches and make it work. So it’s as much about the idea as believing in you’re the guy to pull this off. For example, someone who’s had a great track record puts a new product out there and says I think you should invest in me. I got this basic idea and he gets money even though he’s got a really vague idea because people bet on him more and his track record. Playing devil’s advocate, there are people that come up with these great ideas and they are just starting out, and investors wonder can you really make this thing happen? And they don’t get the funding.

Q. The American way of thinking and innovation, is it a lot different than other countries right now?

A. Once upon a time, we would claim that the United States was the innovation center of the universe, because we think out of the box all the time and over the years certain countries have been very good followers. We have set the trend and the fashion and some other companies have done a better job implementing things, so for years I think we ran on that. But now European startups are just as cool as our stuff. And looking at Japan and the Wii box, that electronic game, Nintendo said hey this is a cool idea, I could do this thing. When the Wii was introduced, it swept the market; suddenly there was a family gaming thing. Gaming had always been for guys and killing people and blowing heads off, and now it was a fun thing, a family thing. They captured the market and then came under attack by everyone else. Like Xbox Kinect, and PlayStation Move. And now they’ve kind of beaten Nintendo at its own game. Perfect example of getting in early, gotta be cool, but you gotta keep on maintaining it because people will come in and eat your lunch.

Q. Yeah I know with all the Japanese automakers, the U.S. seems behind the 8-ball and fewer people feel like they could trust American cars.

A. Oh yeah definitely. All the Japanese automakers got smart. Toyota is a great example. They made the Toyota line and they went upscale to fight against the Mercedes so they created the Lexus line to kind of go for the high end of the market and then Toyota said okay great, I’ll create Scion as another division and go after the lower end of the market. So in order to compete in the market most effectively Toyota made 3 lines to cover all needs. And these are great strategic moves. Small markets have the problem of finding the market and really honing in on exactly what they want to sell. And a lot of the time, that small idea gets bought out by a larger company. Not that the guys aren’t bright but they haven’t got the resources to launch international marketing campaigns. And this is for good reasons that small market ideas get acquired by large market companies because they haven’t got the muscle to go further. And the big company is usually desperate for something new, so it’s a win win.

Q. So what do you think are some of the best personal qualities of an entrepreneur or successful inventor?

A. (Pause) They are really driven. It’s almost like it’s their life. You can tell it. They just know that this is a consuming idea. It’s someone who is thinking about this problem twenty four seven. Their mind is always going, such a passion on their part and they can really be rewarded if they have a great idea and they can cash in. Worzniak was the brains behind apple, he was the techy guy you never hear about, but Jobbs was the showman and showmen often times get all the attention.

Q. One last question, do you have any tips for people just getting their feet wet in the business or any experiences that you had or any experiences you recommend?

A. I highly recommend failure. Cause you’re going to. We all have sort of groomed from school that getting a bad grade means you’re an idiot or something but really in a way, getting a bad grade gives your something to build off of. Anybody I've seen who has been really successful can show you a thousand things they've screwed up on. There’s a great quote from Thomas Edison, he looked to the light bulb and had done thousands of experiments and finally got one that actually worked and they said to him wow this is cool and he said yeah I now know how to make ninety-nine light bulbs that don’t work but I have the one that does work. We don’t like failure, we look at it, as some sort of black mark but the truth is for a successful entrepreneur, you point at your failures and say I’m never going to do that again. Look at the Wright brothers, they had a great model, build an airplane and push it off a cliff and watch it crash and say okay, that didn't work, let’s try it again. So you’re gonna have lots and lots of failures. That tends to be frustrating but is absolutely necessary. They want to think you get this great idea and everyone’s gonna want to buy it but you gotta prepare yourself for failure, that’s key. And the best entrepreneurs are going to be able to live through failure. It’s not gonna be psychologically damaging. They’re going to pick themselves up and try again. I wish we could teach failure in school (laughs) but we can’t.