Indiana Inventors Association

Inventors now have a new way to advertise their inventions.   Craig Whitcomb told us about his new creation, Remarkable Venture . Mr. Whitcomb recommends that an inventor build the value of his invention by moving through 11 steps .       1) Start by identifying a problem worth solving: relevant to the customers you want, solvable, and marketable.       2) Invent a rough draft of a solution to that problem, a proof of concept showing that a final solution is feasible.       3) Find out if someone else already marketed your solution.   Search sites, such as Amazon.com or the Internet Archive , for products similar to your solution/invention.       4) Find out if someone else already patented your invention.   Search sites, such as Patent Public Search or Free Patents Online , for claims that define inventions similar to yours.   ...

For an independent inventor, especially one new to an industry, there is no place better to learn and to network than a professional trade show (a large public display that promotes awareness and sales of new products within a particular industry).   Inventor Kenton Brett unpacked for us many of the benefits this tool offers. • Meet people who can help you. Engage with anyone who wants to interact with you.   Everyone there wants to do business and you never know who might be able to help you.   Someone who might become your friend, business partner, or client; who can answer your questions (now or later); who can connect you to the industry and make you feel like an insider; or who can give you a contract. There are no company gatekeepers at a trade show, so it is often easy to talk with a company’s leaders.   Scan the exhibitor directory to see who might share your interests (maybe the president or head of marketing of a company), note where their exhibit...

Patent attorney Michael Morris treated us to an overview of four ways the law helps inventors to profit from their creations. First, a patent , which is an agreement.   The inventor receives a temporary monopoly that lets him prevent others from profiting from his invention.   This negative right helps the inventor protect his share of the market and defends him from from claims of violating the patent rights of other inventors.   In exchange, the inventor gives his inventive idea to the world when his temporary monopoly ends. A patent is granted to an inventor by a national (eg, United States ) or regional (eg, European ) patent office.   The U.S. grants three kinds of patents: utility (for a useful structure or a method of making or of using a useful structure); plant (for a botanical plant that the inventor invented or discovered and asexually reproduced, except a tuber or plant found in an uncultivated state); and design (for the ornamentation of something m...

          The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. —Paul Val é ry We now have our own dream catcher .   It’s a book, Inventor Confidential: The Honest Guide to Profitable Inventing , that tells inventors how to keep the nightmare of empty promises from ruining their sweet dreams of financial success.   The author, Warren Tuttle (independent contractor for external open innovation, Lifetime Brands; past president, United Inventors Association of America), kindly summarized his book for us.   The first half of the book is about product development, the second half is about what interferes with financial success. There are two ways to bring an invention to the marketplace: indirectly (by licensing (ie, renting) or by selling the invention to others who bring it to the marketplace) or directly (by arranging for all of the steps yourself: production, tooling, landbridging, shipping, warehousing, fulfillment, ...

Want to build a prototype of your invention?   Has Machyne got the place for you! Alex Bandar, PhD (executive director, Machyne) believes that everyone has the potential to be an educated and empowered innovator.   If you can imagine something, you can learn how to, and actually, sketch it digitally in 2 or 3 dimensions for free.   YouTube shows you how.  Give that sketch to computer-run machines and they will create a prototype of the thing for you. If you need money for materials or for access to tools, run a crowdfunding campaign.   Show your prototype to a customer, investor, company, or retailer and ask if they will use your idea.   If they say yes, a global network of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers can spread your idea to markets worldwide. Alex embodied his belief by creating a clubhouse for makers, first in Columbus, OH ( Idea Foundry ) and now in Indianapolis.   Machyne makes it easy to move an idea from your head into your ...

Business is about relationships.   Benjamin Harrison (product developer; creator, SmartPitch ; author, Licensing Ideas Using LinkedIn ) told us how to use LinkedIn to approach decision makers and persuade them to join our teams. LinkedIn is playing a bigger role for inventors.   Many trade shows have been canceled or have become virtual.   Many people won’t answer a phone call from an unknown caller.   Thousands of companies are looking for inventions but must be approached professionally. The goal of using LinkedIn is to send direct and courteous messages seeking common ground to specific people.   Then, if common ground exists, move the conversation off of LinkedIn.   There is no need to create content about your invention or to be an influencer in order to get at least a 25% response rate from decision makers. Build a community of people with compatible interests because you never know who might help you.   Start by creating a professional...