Don't Get Taken Advantage Of: Bring Your Invention Safely To Market. Here Are Some Tips & Lessons.

Can You Trust Invention Idea & Promotion Companies?

Inventors face obstacles and challenges at every step of the invention process. And the truth is, you can do it alone - you can take an idea through patent and all the way to commercialization.

But you don't have to... and, quite frankly, you shouldn't.

You'll need to partner up with at least some other person or entity at some point during the process. Why make it hard on yourself when you don't have to? You can partner up without losing control - that's the key.

Here are some tips and lessons on how to maintain the right frame of mind and proactive thinking in the invention process so no one pulls the wool over your eyes.

An Example, And A Couple Of Lessons
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​The Security Jack, an invention designed to lock a touch-tone phone, was invented by sixty year old inventor Calvin Flowers in the 1990s.

He designed it to help out parents who wanted to avoid those ludicrously high phone bills because their kids nonchalantly and naively made long distance calls or used the internet unsupervised.  

​I can relate to that; I definitely had a "summer girlfriend" that I snuck calls to.
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Perplexed on how to market his idea, Flowers hired a firm that promotes inventions to do all the work of evaluating, developing, patenting and marketing his device for him.

Although he paid them a sum of $10,000, he noted that the firm did not get the job done.

He eventually realized that for his invention to reach the world he had to push the process forward himself - make the initiative to take charge.

He employed a patent attorney and got a manufacturer to help build a prototype of the invention and manufacture the product.

He also attended classes to learn how to construct a solid business plan, and write about and sell the products.

Then he started a company: Tel-Lock Inc.
 
As a result of his efforts, Mr. Flowers was able to sell almost $1 million of Security Jacks in Walgreens; he then moved to other department stores around the country.
 
Currently, Mr. Flowers is President of The Chicago Inventors Organization.

He advises entrepreneurs to get actively involved in all steps of the invention process, all the way from basement sketch to product on shelf.

Being proactive prevents suppliers, consultants, investors and other companies from taking advantage of inventors.

He urges them to learn the lead times and molds needed to manufacture their product, and to reduce the chances of been ripped off by learning and understanding the language of the business, by getting to know and learn from many different manufacturers.

He notes that speaking the normal parlance of the manufacturers reduces the chances of being ripped off by them.

In a nutshell, Calvin Flowers is an inventor and entrepreneur who learned the hard way.

The good news for inventors is that you can easily avoid his pitfall and avoid being shafted in the invention process - by being proactive.

Do your homework, stay involved, stay informed; that's the lesson for inventors.
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Another Story, Another Lesson For Inventors

​“Present in every industry are people who will take advantage, and exploit others’ lack of knowledge for short term gain, if the opportunity presents itself,” says John Flavin, Chicago Innovation Mentors’ executive director.

As an inventor and entrepreneur, you have to ask frank questions such as, “What do they stand to gain? Is the benefit going to be mutual?” He says.

Flavin further intones that help will be needed and payment will have to be made to get the help needed.
 
Entrepreneurs today are still being confounded by invention marketing firms such as the one Mr. Flowers encountered in the 1990s.

Consumer complaints, reaching about 600 every year are being received by the Federal Trade Commission reporting such firms.

Some of these firms engage in series of unscrupulous behavior, such as reneging on the promises of their salespeople in the contracts they offer, or having expenses that instead of paying off, frustrate inventors.
 
A spokeswoman for InventHelp, a firm in Pittsburgh that advertises in the Chicago area, Nicole Hait, says “There is a need for inventors to remember and understand that they are buying a service and it does not translate to buying success.”

She continues by saying that, “There is nothing that can be done if the product does not interest the marketplace.”

That last statement pretty much sums up the lesson for inventors - if that isn't a blatant tip I don't know what is.

So inventors: Do your homework, do your research.

As intimate and as passionate as you are about your invention, process or product, you need to be equally as familiar with the potential market value. So ask yourself the right questions: Who will your consumer be? How will you reach them? What are you competing with?
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Yes, You Ultimately Can Trust Invention Companies

The 1999 American Inventors Protection Act necessitates that data on the activities of invention marketing companies, over at least five years, are to be publicly disclosed.

These include the number of all customers handled by the firm, the number of those whose invention got licensed through the services provided by the company, and the total number of customers the promoter’s services aided in making net profits.

Entrepreneurs can therefore decide on the worth of each service provider by looking at the available statistics.
 
Ms. Hait indicates that InventHelp’s Legal disclosures showed that nationwide, submission agreements were signed with InventHelp by 4,671 inventors, between 2010 and 2012.

License agreements were received by a total of 141 clients for their invention ideas, while the company paid more money to about 22 clients than their initial cost.
 
There are always other dangers lurking, apart from those encountered with promotion firms. The lesson and tip here is simple:
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Inventors need to exercise intelligence and caution at every step in the invention process. You are smart; always think smart! 

Such is the case of first time inventor, Maria Van Hove, 59, who paid the supplier’s full fee upfront, thereby giving him an edge over her.

“I loved the guy and thought we’d work well together, and he gave me a fair price,” she says.

​Bedframe Booties, Ms. Van Hove’s invention, were padded bundles attached to bed frame legs, cushioning the blow of stubbing ones toes.

Unfortunately, there was no time frame stipulated in the contract and two and half years were taken by the manufacturer to produce a prototype that was to her specifications.

“The prototype was decent, I gave my approval and ordered 1000,” she recalls. “But when the 1000 arrived, they were all not to my specification and he didn’t make any refunds.”
 
A total estimated sum of $8,000 has been spent by Ms. Van Hove on the process of invention, including the $4,000 payment made for the flawed booties.

She’s searching for a better manufacturer who can produce samples that can be showcased in a trade show for home products.

​She mentions that she will be smarter going forward, and ensure she gets a favorable contract, as well as, have an installment payment plan.
 
Through Score, a non-profit organization based in Herndon, VA., that connects retired executives serving as mentors with entrepreneurs, she found a mentor, who has helped her avoid other pitfalls.

​Her mentor, an ex-patent agent, familiarized her with the processes involved in getting a provisional patent for her invention.
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The Magic Of Mentorship

At the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, Ellen Rudnick who is the executive director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, says, “Mistakes can be avoided by having really good mentors or advisers in your corner.”
 
Founder of Zydeco Studios, located in Riverswood, Illyse Brainin, 48, gave credits to a Chicago game and toy inventors group, Discover Games, for making it easy for her 48 year old husband, Richard Goodman, and her, to  launch their line of plastic characters, Floppets, which kids can collect to wear as jewelry or attach to flip-flops and backpacks.
 
From the monthly gathering of the organization members, Mr. Goodman and Ms. Brainin picked up valuable tips related to the process of commercialization and also got to know about companies and firms that are good and safe to be involved with and those that are to be avoided.

They also had the opportunity of meeting their current sales vice president and the personnel who tests and certifies Floppets products. “As a toy veteran for over 20 years, he thought up our products’ clamshell tag,” Ms. Brainin says. “There was a price tag on the initial oval tag, but retailers hated it,”
 
Last year, more than 500,000 pieces of the toys manufactured in china were sold by Zydeco studios, at $2 each, to theme parks, toy shops, custom-order client and convenience stores.

Recently, a deal was signed by the company, with Major League Baseball, to produce baseball-themed Floppets.

Negotiations are ongoing for an order of over one million pieces with a customer in the United Kingdom.
 
The founders of a 3-year-old wheelchair development company based in Champaign, IntelliWheels Inc., were also helped by mentors. 32 year old co-founder, Marissa Siebel, says co-founder Scott Daigle and her were dissuaded from accepting funds from a wrong investor group, by their informal advisers.

She recalls, “We needed the money badly at the time, but a one sided term that didn’t favor us at all was offered.” Ms. Siebel and Mr. Diagle, wavered because of the uncertainty of getting another investor on time.
 
Two products are being developed by IntelliWheels: an automatic and manual gear-shifting systems that allows wheelchairs to be pushed with ease.

The gear-shifting system that ran automatically was first invented as part of a master’s thesis by Mr. Daigle in 2008 at the University of Illinois.

However, the invention belongs to the university, because he used university resources to develop the system.

A development and royalty deal was negotiated by the duo with the technology transfer office of the school. (The manual gear-shifting system, invented off campus, is owned by IntelliWheels)  

Their mentors at University of Illinois pointed out that their commercialization strategy must be missing a piece, as indicated by that their inability to get funding.

“We found that simple products in Medicare had a reimbursable code.” Ms. Siebel says.

​They then adjusted their efforts towards developing a manual gear-shifting system that was simpler and one capable of competing favorably in the market. “When potential investors heard our pitch, they could see the invention’s viability and the revenue stream,” she says.
 
With the revised pitch, about $500,000 worth of funding was raised by the company from investors. A grant of $164,000 was also awarded to the company by the National Institutes of Health. Local and regional sales of the IntelliWheels Easy Push manual gear-shifting system started in January and ways to expand distribution are being examined, using the reimbursement and sales data from the soft launch. ​​
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In Summary

There is a recipe for success that inventors should follow.

There will be opportunities to stray and create each's own path, but overall there are fundamental principles that every inventor - whether you've created a new software to secure bank accounts, a safeguard for microwaves, or a new baby toy - must adhere to if they want to gain "successful inventor" status.

​Here are some of those principles, which should innately become characteristics of your persona as an inventor:

1. Persistence & consistency
2. Intelligence, cunning and savvy
3. Market knowledge about potential target audience
4. Understanding of patent law
5. Investment in the world beyond your invention
6. Test everything - theories and theory in practice
7. Protect yourself and your ideas
8. Do it alone, but outsource and look for mentors; don't rely on or entrust others to do your work
9. Fail until you succeed

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