NASCAR’s Brian France – A Leader in Innovation
NASCAR frequently falls victim to a common misconception when the inexperienced person takes a look at it. They often have the impression that the teams are just a handful of ex-moonshine families modifying the family car in the garage and taking it to the local racetrack. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. The NASCAR […]
Selling to the Catalogs
An Interview with Catalog Agent, Jim Tilberry By Jack Lander Traditionally, catalogs have been a receptive market channel for inventors. Catalogs don’t send the “facilities police” to check out your “factory.” They don’t mind if you have only one product in your product line. And they don’t ask how long you’ve been in business. If […]
I Have Looked and “There is Nothing Out There Like This”
By Roger Brown There isn’t a week that goes by without someone sending me an item for review or an item they want to bring to market, and they state in their letter/email the fatal words, “There is nothing out there like this.” Unfortunately, 98% of the time that is a false statement. Most of […]
Show Me the Money!
Crowdfunding gets you free funding while sharpening your marketing tactics. By Skip Elkay No matter what stage you’re at with your invention, how does free money sound? That’s exactly what crowdfunding brings you. And just about anyone can get crowdfunding, provided they remember to focus on the classic WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) approach […]
Pitching Your Invention to the Pros, and Protecting Your Ideas Before You Do!
Experiences shared by Inventor Brian Fried Are you ready to pitch your invention to the pros, buyers, licensees, agents, etc.? You need to be prepared. Do your research – you don’t want to end up pitching a shovel to a kitchen gadget company! Direct Response Television (DRTV) companies are always looking for mass audience […]
The America Invents Act- Your Survival Guide
by Bill Loginov D’85 Many months ago, I began to write an article about the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which significantly “reforms” the U.S. patent system. The act was signed into law on September 16, 2011. It promised to be the most sweeping reform to the U.S. patent system in over half a century […]
Red Ocean or Blue Ocean?
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USP- TO), there were approximately 225,000 utility patents and 21,000 design patents granted in 2011, thus implying that over 200,000 new product ideas could potentially enter the market- place. And this doesn’t even include non-patented new prod- uct introductions. However, only a small percentage of granted patents […]
How to Get A Patent!
FIRST OFFICE ACTION The first formal correspondence in the process to get a patent from the US Patent Office concerning the patentability of the invention is in the form of a first “office action,” which is mailed to the applicant’s patent agent or attorney. This first step in the process to get a patent is […]
The Annual James Dyson Award
Whether it is a pat on the back or a shiny gold star, no matter our age, we all enjoy being rewarded for our hard work and dedication inside the classroom. But what if that reward translated to $16,000 cold hard cash and an additional $16,000 given to your respective university? Yes, my thoughts exactly. […]
Things I Learned from Shark Tank
In addition to being highly entertaining, ABC’s hit reality show “Shark Tank” is also very educational for inventors. If you haven’t seen the show, each episode presents a number of contestants who pitch their inventions and businesses to a panel of five “sharks” who are all wealthy entrepreneurs. If any of the sharks like a pitch, they offer to purchase […]
