by Cathy L. Gallagher
Pictured from left to right are Kevin Ackeret, Trevor Brown, Randy Wlodarski, Tim Wrigley, and Julie Wlodarski.
Some people are hired by corporations to invent new methodologies and/or products under the corporation’s name. Others become entrepreneurial inventors when they decide to find solutions to everyday work process problems. Corporate inventors have resource advantages entrepreneurial inventors usually lack: salaries, benefits, and the help of their employers’ legal, research, financial, and marketing teams. Entrepreneurial inventors usually have to hold down full time jobs to pay the bills while they pursue inventing, and they must find the resources corporate inventors have at their fingertips. It can be quite daunting, and first time inventors often make huge, costly mistakes.
Step 1: See the problem and become a solution seeker
After five years of being a problem seer, Julie Wlodarski became a solution seeker, unaware she had taken the first step toward becoming an inventor or that she would soon make the biggest, costliest mistake first-time inventors make. Wlodarski, who was a phlebotomist at the Methodist Hospital in Merrillville, Indiana, decided to find a better way to keep specimen tubes chilled than the inconvenient, messy, potentially dangerous but traditional method of immersing them in cups of ice.
After searches through laboratory product catalogs proved futile, she decided to design a product to solve the problem. She jotted ideas on a paper napkin for what would become The Chameleon Cooler and asked her father, Jim Wrigley, to produce rough drawings.
Avoid this first mistake
Wlodarski did not know what to do next-until she saw a television advertisement featuring a company that promised to help new inventors turn ideas into patents and products. Her parents and siblings scraped together the six-thousand-dollar fee. Following this company’s suggestions did not yield results. Wlodarski was forced to put her sketches in a drawer until she could raise more capital. That took ten years.
“Julie made the big, costly mistake common to first time inventors. They are impatient to get a product developed and unfamiliar with the product development process. They call 1-800-I Got-An-Idea. They invest thousands of dollars and don’t get the help they need to move forward,” said Kevin Ackeret, president of Ackeret Engineering Inc., a product design and development firm in Seymour, Indiana.
Wlodarski was discouraged but unwilling to give up on the idea she had thought up ten years earlier. The problem had not yet been solved and colleagues who had seen her idea liked it. When an investor stepped unexpectedly forward, Wlodarski had the working capital to patent and manufacture her Chameleon Cooler.
Step 2: protect your idea with an invention disclosure
Attorney Gary Hartman of Hartman and Hartman PC, an intellectual property law firm in Valparaiso, Ind., advises inventors to use an invention disclosure when sharing their unpatented idea with others: “An invention disclosure helps prove you are the true inventor. It contains the date, a description, sketches, and a place for the other person to sign that it is your idea. Julie showed her sketches to many people without using invention disclosures. In her case it worked out fine, but it could have become a very costly mistake.”
Step 3: Conduct patent searches and file a patent application
Some people ask their family attorney for a referral to a patent attorney. Others look in the phone book or do research on the internet to find patent help. Wlodarski was referred to Hartman, who explained patents, their purposes, and the pros and cons of filing for one: “A well-written and prepared patent is difficult to get around. You must have a very good grasp of patent law and be good at words, because the description in the patent defines the metes and boundaries of your patent protection. The product description and claims of the patent are what is protected, and there are strict rules about writing them.”
A patent is good for twenty years from the date the patent application is filed. “A patent is a trade off — you are asking the government to give you a twenty-year monopoly on your product idea, and you are agreeing to let the government publish the details of your patent,” Hartman said.
A less expensive starting point
There is an inexpensive starting point for the inventor who wants to ensure patent rights while assessing the product’s salability. “An inventor can file a provisional patent application by filing a description and rough drawings with the United States patent office. It costs about eighty dollars and is good for twelve months. It allows you to put ‘patent pending’ on the product,” said Hartman.
When patents do not make sense
It takes one or two years to get a patent. Hartman said, “If the marketing shelf life of a product — a fad product or a technology that is changing quickly, for example — is less than that a patent may not make sense. A patent is essential if you have something with a longer shelf life that others can copy and make money selling, like Julie’s Chameleon Cooler.”
A patent is only worth the money an inventor has to defend it in court against infringement. Hartman said, “That is why you need a good patent attorney. When you do a patent search and study the patents that are out there already, a patent attorney can prepare an infringement opinion for the files. If you are taken to court for infringement, the court won’t see you as reckless if you have an infringement opinion on record, because you have done your research.”
Software to help inventors do their own patent searches
A new software program called PatentHunter can help patent attorneys, businesses, and inventors download and manage U.S. patents more quickly and more affordably. The software was developed by Michael S. Neustel, U.S. Patent Attorney and founder of the National Inventor Fraud Center, Inc. (www.inventorfraud.com). He assists inventors and businesses in protecting their intellectual property assets. PatentHunter is easy to use and provides a unique patent management system for easy downloading of published U.S. patent applications and access to downloaded patents. Purchasing information is available at www.PatentHunter.com. Neustel may be reached at Neustel Law Offices, LTD, phone: 701-281-8822.
Step 4: Find a product design and development firm.
From the patent search, Wlodorski knew she had a product worth producing, so she looked for a manufacturer by searching her library’s catalog of manufacturers.
Avoid this second mistake
“Looking for a manufacturer before you design your product is the second big mistake new inventors make. That’s working the process backwards. When you decide to build a house, you don’t start by going to the hardware store to buy doorknobs. You start with your needs and design your home to fit them. Then you develop detailed plans that include the specific details, including the types of doorknobs you will use. The same thing is true for turning your idea into a marketable product. Start by identifying the needs the product will fill,” said Ackeret. Ackeret Engineering Inc. (phone: 812-569-0464), does both product design and prototyping inhouse and is ‘not tied to a specific manufacturing method or manufacturer. This provides them the flexibility to recommend the best alternatives to every entrepreneurial or corporate inventor with whom they work.
Avoid this third mistake
Trevor Brown, Industrial Designer at Ackeret Engineering Inc, described a third mistake inventors often make: “A good product design cycle has specific steps and takes time. New inventors make the big mistake of trying to skip essential steps to rush through the process. We don’t skip any steps, because they are essential to the results we get.”
Step 5: Prepare a business plan
Setting up a business and preparing a business plan are steps inventors often want to skip, but they are essential to success. Wlodarski retained a business attorney. Some states have small business associations that can provide resources and referrals. Bookstores and libraries have excellent resources for entrepreneurs. Some entrepreneurs hire the help of graduate students in business from their local universities or colleges.
Intellectual property attorneys can help entrepreneurs with all aspects of obtaining a trademark for their business name. However, entrepreneurs who only want help with name creation and trademark research can get such help from Judith Weintraub, entrepreneur and owner of Trademarkers LTD in Bethesda, Maryland (phone: 301-229-7777).
The online Handbook for Inventors by Lemelson-MIT (based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) contains eleven chapters covering topics like conducting patent searches, guidelines for developing a business plan, and raising capital. It also contains an extensive list of resources and guidelines for inventors. Type in Lemelson-MIT on the subject line for your inter-net search or http://web.mit.edu/invent/ www.handbook.
Step 6: Find a means of marketing and advertising
Some entrepreneurs prefer to market and sell their products themselves. Wlodarski looked for established sources of distribution. Her Chameleon Cooler is currently available through laboratory catalogs by MarketLab and Fisher Scientific.
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Cathy L. Gallagher is a freelance writer in Grand Rapids, Mich.
