Back in 1992, Michael Miller decided the time had come to strike
out on his own. Miller was 30 and had nine years of corporate
experience under his belt. What he didn't have was an idea for
a business.
Miller got that final piece of the puzzle from an inventor he
was associated with. The inventor (who wishes to remain anonymous)
had come up with a mechanical device that takes weeds and roots out
of lawns and gardens. Miller liked the invention, called the Weed
Hound, and felt the inventor was really onto something. Miller
test-marketed the product at several lawn and garden shops. The
response was favorable, and Miller knew what he wanted to do:
"When I demonstrated the product to people, they said,
'Wow, that is really great.' I knew then the product was a
winner, and I decided to license it." In 1994, Miller launched
his company, Hound Dog Products Inc., in Edina, Minnesota, to do
just that. Since that time, he's added a variety of different
items to the Hound Dog line and expects sales to grow from $5
million in 1999 to up to $6 million this year.
Explore Your Options
Content Continues Below
The moral of the story? Most of the people or companies that
actually license products are not established companies, but rather
start-ups or individuals wanting to launch businesses. So, as an
inventor, you need to explore all your options when trying to
license your idea-don't spend all your time courting
established companies. They're overwhelmed with innovations
from myriad inventors and don't have time to evaluate
everything.
Instead, you can often make much more progress in licensing your
idea if you expand your options. For instance, if you consider your
invention a unique opportunity for someone looking to start a
company and manufacture a new product, you can then list your
invention on Web sites that compile business-for-sale ads. Some
good ones to start with are the Business Resale Network, MergerNetwork
and the US Business
Exchange.
Another avenue is to talk to people in a distribution channel
who would be able to carry your product, such as manufacturer's
sales agents (independent contractors who sell products for
anywhere from three to 20 manufacturers) and distributor
salespeople. These contacts have experience in the market and might
be interested in starting a company based on your invention. To
find leads, read through trade magazines that target retailers,
distributors and manufacturers in specific industries. You can find
some titles in Gale's Source of Publications and Broadcast
Media, available at your local library.
Contact the publishers of every trade magazine related to your
product and ask to be put on their mailing lists. Look in the
magazines' ads and new product sections; start requesting
information on every product you see that's even remotely
similar to yours. Often, the literature you receive includes the
name of the local representative and/or distributor-that's the
person you need to contact and try to convince to license or buy
your idea. Sometimes, those distributors are even willing to
partner up with you to help launch your invention.
Painless
Patents
Save money with the latest patent software.
Patent attorneys are expensive-it's not unusual for the
patent process to cost inventors $5,000 to $15,000. If those
figures seem a little sky-high, consider PatentWizard software from
PatentWizard Inc. The program, which can be ordered at www.patentwizard.com or www.patentcafe.com,
guides inventors through a series of questions and then produces a
provisional patent application that can be submitted to the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office. PatentWizard costs $249 (street) and
allows you to prepare your patent application in less than a week.
Applying for a provisional patent is an ideal, low-cost tool for
those who want to do more market research on a product yet be able
to advertise that the idea is patent-pending.
At only $75, provisional patents may seem like a great bargain,
but they have a big drawback: You must apply for the more expensive
utility or design patent (applying for a standard utility patent
costs $355) within one year of submitting your provisional patent
in order to get standard patent protection. Otherwise, you'll
lose your patent rights.
Page 1 |
2 