Indiana Inventors Association

Ms. Carol Applegate (Director of programs and services, Business Ownership Initiative (BOI; not-for-profit partner of the Small Business Administration )) helped us understand that innovation is an interaction between thinking and doing. “An expert is a person who avoids small error as he sweeps on to the grand fallacy.” [ Niels Bohr ] What is the grand fallacy of innovation? It’s that we tend to mistake thinking for doing. Consider this trick question: 6 frogs are sitting on a log. One decides to jump off. How many are left? Answer: 6 frogs. Why? Because the one frog just decided to jump off; he didn’t do anything. Many inventors decide to jump into a business so they can turn their inventions into financial success. They decide to jump, but don’t. They stay on the log because they lack the strength of personal commitment to the effort of business, or they lack the grip of knowing how to start, maintain, and grow a business. BOI offers valuable yet inexpensive ($10; discounts

This month the Indiana Inventors Association met without a speaker to discuss innovation in general. People spoke about the current state of their creations (medical devices, segway-related items, books, etc.) and about their experiences in innovation. Special congratulations go to Ken Rainbolt for winning a people's choice award at a local convention for one of his segway inventions.

Mr. James Hill (a patent attorney with the Chicago law firm Wildman Harrold ) addressed two important questions many inventors ask - Is my invention patentable? Should I invest in a patent? The United States grants patents only for inventions that benefit our society. What is an invention? An invention is a means to a useful end. It is a machine, manufactured article, composition of matter, or method that has 3 aspects ( SOR ): structure, operation (function), and result. Deterministic relationships between those aspects integrate (combine) parts into a whole that is more than the sum of its individual parts. Parts of an invention work together to produce a useful result. A mere aggregate however is just the sum of its parts - an assembly of structures or method steps that do not cooperate to produce a useful result, something a tornado might put together (like a straw through a telephone pole). An aggregate is not patentable because it is not more useful than its independent (old)

“To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour." - William Blake " Auguries of Innocence " An appealing industrial design helps an inventor persuade investors, marketers, and consumers of the value of an invention and convey important details of the invention to design engineers and patent agents/attorneys. Mr. Chris Stuart (of LUUR [a design and visualization firm]; formerly a senior designer for Thomson Consumer Electronics) spoke to us about the steps he takes to help inventors express their inventions visually, fully, and relatively inexpensively, and showed us some impressive examples of his work. 1. Chris first sketches (freehand and using a Wacom tablet ) the invention, focusing on concept and form rather than on production. CAD m odeling converts the sketch to a two dimensional illustration of the invention, to which forecasted colors are applied. Something as simple as your

Patent attorney Charles Meyer ( Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP ) led a lively discussion of intellectual property, focusing his insightful and down-to-earth presentation on patents and trademarks. Background Congress may (not must) choose to promote progress of art and technology in the United States by providing us with an intellectual property system (U.S. Constitution article 1, section 8, clause 8). Not all intellectual property contributes to progress, but some, importantly, does. You can protect your creation with a: patent , trademark , copyright , trade secret , agreement ( confidentiality and noncompete ), license and contract , and litigation . The market, not intellectual property, gives your creation monetary value. If no one will buy your product without intellectual property, they won’t buy your product with it. The main purpose of intellectual property is to protect and enhance your product’s market value. A US patent is a property right in an i

Richard McVicker , a patent illustrator (see some of his drawings at the bottom of the page) and successful inventor (see a list of some of his patents at the bottom of the page), shared with us his insight into how important it is for us to set goals for ourselves. What is a goal? What you expect to accomplish. A result you prepare to achieve with a high degree of certainty. Why set a goal? To invent yourself. Most of all, a goal is personal. The purpose of setting a goal is to create your self-image (how you see yourself), to define who you are, and therefore to determine what you can actually accomplish. Everyone has a potential to accomplish, determined by our physical selves and by our environment. Self-image does not change that potential, but it does greatly affect what you actually do with your potential, how you actually interact with and change yourself, the world, and your relation to the world. A winner is never surprised to win, and a loser is never surprised to los

Mr. Steven R. Peabody (president of CMI Engineering and holder of several patents) gave us exceptional, valuable, practical, real-world guidance on how to develop an invention into a product. Here is a summary of his detailed method: 1. Prepare an industrial design . Once you feel you have a marketable invention: a) sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement b) describe your invention to someone (industrial designer, engineer, draftsman) who can give your idea: an understandable format (such as an industrial design). Show this to your engineers, marketers, and patent lawyers/agents. if the invention is complex, an animated illustration to show how the product works. 2. Consider filing a patent application. To get legal rights for your invention. Now, or after doing the marketability study of step 4. 3. Have an engineering firm precisely design your invention. So you can manufacture products. a) Choose a firm that is familiar wit

Despite inclement weather, 6 brave attendees received valuable advice on early stage innovation from inventors Ron Jackson and Richard McVicker . Before investing a lot of money in an invention: Test the invention and its market. Build a prototype of your invention and test it in the real world. Find out what the prototype's flaws are, so you can correct them and make the invention more marketable. Test market your invention to find out who might actually buy it. Are potential customers excited enough about your invention to pay for it? How much will they pay? How many will pay? Are expected sales large enough to justify your investment of time, energy, and resources? Find out who can manufacture your invention and at what cost. Can you sell your invention for a price high enough to pay for manufacturing and shipping and still make a profit? Look in stores to identify products similar to yours and contact the manufacturer for more information. Find out who can help sell your inven

Ms. Nikki Lewallen ( Rainmakers Director of Membership Development) introduced us to Rainmakers, an organization dedicated to helping people establish strategic business relationships. Rainmakers helps inventors (among others) succeed by presenting informative business programs and by helping members meet those who can help them. The effectiveness of Rainmakers is evident from its rapid growth in membership - doubling every year (since its founding 5 years ago by Tony Scelzo) to 1200 members today. Through its philosophy of winning and putting others first, Rainmakers: S - creates Strategic relationships H - creates a culture of Hospitality A - has members hold each other Accountable to a higher standard R - is always Recruiting new members E - Encourages and inspires members to achieve their goals How does it work? Sharpen your focus. Create a message that identifies, as specifically as possible, what you need and who you want to meet. Find your power circle. Attend a meeti

Dr. Mileta Tomovic (of Purdue University's Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology) and graduate students Tamara Novakov and Jui Shyang Liu introduced us to the fascinating technology of rapid prototyping, which creates a prototype model of an invention rapidly (2 – 7 hours) and inexpensively. They have generously made the slides of their presentation accessible. Embodying your inventive idea in a physical model can help you: visually communicate your invention to investors, colleagues, and customers optimize your invention before manufacture test market your invention on a small scale establish an invention date for your patent application reverse engineer someone else's invention. One form of rapid prototyping (known as material addition, additive fabrication, three dimensional printing, solid free-form fabrication, layered manufacturing, or computer automated manufacturing) uses a machine, and a description of your invention as Comput