well, how do you get a potential buyer to see and buy your idea?
for instance, if there is a website that deals souly w/ your target customer, is an informative site, and also sells merchandise, how would I approach this company w/ this product? Do I just show them a visual and see if they are interested? I surely cannot go and get something made, then get thousands produced, in hopes that any company would consider it.

Jeez,that was useful,Mark.Cheers.

That was some question,Heather.Thanks.

Heather, I can totally relate to your frustration. I created a product.. actually made about 20 units and more.. but took them to individual places that I knew would be my target market. I gave these businesses a unit to test market. I later contacted them and obtained their testimonies.. this, of course, after getting them to sign a non-disclosure.

I did this during the patent pending process. After which, at the expiration of the patent pending,was sent an email with a link to a site that had a similar concept – but a completely different design… and I’m quite sure not as effective as my product or as sleek and environmentally friendly. In any case, based on that alone.. the ‘obviousness’ of the idea, I was told that no patent examiner would ever issue a full utility patent.

In any case, I put everything away.. and four months later was called by a huge, I mean huge hospital wanting over 100 units! I was, at the time, a stay at home mother of two. I had no income and was making the units up as I could. I came to a hault in the road. When our taxes were filed, I was able to purchase supplies for the last 3 years.. this year, I used our refund to pay for an invention company to help me. I paid $740 for the ISC report. I am currently waiting on that. However, my major hang up or malfunction is now the additional 10K it will cost to have them represent my product to companies and manufacturers. hmmmm .. what is an entrepreneur to do? well, get the report then contact the manufacturers and companies myself. So long as I can secure a supplier that is reputable, I can then continue the road least traveled and see where it takes me. I, for one, cannot and will not get anybody to just loan me the money in the sheer hope of a whim that this company is going to make it a success.. in fact, their success rate is like .3% so that tells me one major thing.. there is nobody that is more passionate about my product than me.

Not sure if that helps.. but if you can get someone to do a small run of product pieces that is a start.. or if you can try and do the prototype yourself.

I am well into my product – a little over 4 years and still have no real help.

You know, come to think of it.. if you can determine what you want your product to be made out of – for instance is it fabric, metal, plastic.. what?? then do some research for local companies that produce that specialty. If you are as good at art work and graphic design, you should have no trouble getting someone to create the parts needed by your drawing.. I would take some time, let your fingers do the walking, so to speak, and research local possible suppliers.. Tell them you would like to see a sample.

(they may produce one in the hopes of earning your business)

I will say prayers for you that you find success.. and I’m not opposed to receiving them, also..lol.

Hi Lee, What an ICS report? I looked online and I some entries about ICS documents, but none of them seemed to be about new product evaluations. There an industry accepted evaluation system called PIES (Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System) and it was developed at some university. Does the ICS report use PIES? What is the name of the invention company? I know of multiple companies that do PIES evaluations and they charge about $300.

Have you visited inventor ed’s site:

http://www.inventored.org/

Sometimes he’s worth a look.

Lee,it’s worth paying attention to the content of the patent specification of similar products.
It’s rarely cut and dry.
If your invention has a feature or features that you can claim,that havn’t been claimed patent-wise,that deliver a significant desirable benefit,and can be delivered through an economically viable product,i.e can arrive on the market at a price the market will bear and is profitable for all concerned,you’ve got something.
The more you do,the more you know.The more you learn,the more you do.This gives you,has given me,a stronger sense of what you’re/I’m doing.

if you’re on a really tight budget, i’d recommend going to your nearest college that has an industrial design program (they design consumer products, etc.)… or go online and find one that you could work with long-distance

students work really cheaply, and usually have access to the fancy rapid prototyping machines that could do a nice prototype for you. parts like shown in this video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHPKrtmBh_I&feat…

i’d call the department head and ask if she / he has any senior students that want some real-life design work. maybe offer $20.00 / hr. for a student to help you. that’s what i’ve offered to students (byu industrial design college), and they were glad to take it. have them sign an nda before they start.

does your prototype have moving parts? snap fits? if so, then it gets a little more expensive because of more expensive machines needed to produce what you want, but the results can be spectacular! especially if you have the rp part prepped and painted, etc. that’s where places like http://www.redeyeondemand.com or http://www.quickparts.com can help you get the CAD file made into a real product that looks, feels almost real.

i did the above mentioned route, and now i’m taking the next step and having a pro industrial design firm create final CAD files for the near-final working models to present to buyers, etc.

my final parts will be made on a top-of-the-line rapid prototyping machine like the 3D Systems Viper

check out this YouTube video clip that shows the Viper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTWFWh1x-yo

(for my idea, i’m going by the motto: “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”, so i’m spending a lot of money to have near production quality prototypes when i walk in the door to show potential licensees, etc.

but, on the other hand… store buyers and potential licencees are sophisticated people, and they know a good idea when they see one. so, presenting super duper presentation model may not be necessary…

i’m going to risk wasting the $, and will be walking in the doors with the best functional models i can afford)

HI Don, well from what I learned the ISC report sounds an awful lot like the PIES thing you were referencing.. it basically does a complete analysis of the product to deterimine which categories of companies would be companies that would consider the type of product. It also does an analysis of target market and apparently more… anyway, I was told that no company or manufacturer will take you seriously without this supposed report.

And Adam, as far as being worth paying attention to the ‘content’ of patent, I hired a patent attorney with 30 plus years of experience. The interesting thing to note here is that there are two types of patents, the full utility patent (an idea that nobody has ever thought of before – unique, not obvious in concept) and a design patent. However, with design patents, a ‘shark’ could come along, take the idea and make one small change and the design patent is rendered pretty useless – not much protection there.

Look at McDonalds and Burger King, they sell tons of burgers – neither of them have a patent on a burger. That information came from the SBA assocation. Still, I appreciate your input.

As for the ISC report thing.. I think it’s probably a waste of money but who knows, maybe it will help in the process of a successful outcome… at least that is what I am hoping. Thanks for commenting.

Lee,did you check out inventored’s site:

http://www.inventored.org/

It might be a good idea

Hi Lee, Something does not seem to add up. If I do a google search for “PIES product evaluation report” I get multiple pages about product evaluations. When I search for “ISC product evaluation report” I don’t get anything that seems to be about product evaluations? Could you tell us the name of the company charging you $740 for the report.

When I applied for my first patent, the PTO rejected my patent claiming multiple patents had already invented what I had. After reviewing the cited patents I narrowed the scope of the claims slightly and the patent was granted. After the initial PTO rejection, my patent attorney pretty much said it was in my court to show them why the idea was unique. The attorney said he would help, but it was really up to me to do the work because I knew more about the product than he did. I’m not an attorney, but I would be willing take a look at what you have and give you my thoughts.

Are there people out there who will evaluate your product? And how does it work to license a product?

Hi Lee,

Great information, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m a little worried about the “invention company” that you had help you. They made you pay $740 for an ISC report that they claim no company will take you serious without one and then they asked you for $10k for them present your product to the companies??? I’m REALLY glad you didn’t do that!

You do not need an ISC report in order for companies to look at your product and in fact this is the first time I’ve ever hear of that report. It could have been a report that they created on their own and they are telling people that they need this in order to make it. Then they tried to get you to spend $10,000 for them to present your products???? WOW.

Lee, I would go back and look at the posts of inventor friendly companies, I think inventor’s digest also has a list. These companies may be able to help you. While toys are not my area of expertise, I understand that the traditional toy market is very hard to get into, but there are resources out there and I think if you dig deep enough you will find them. I would not pay anyone that much money(if i had that much) to do what you can do yourself. You may want to look around for I believe the term is brokers, or a marketing company which deals with toys or whatever other category, and approach them. They may likely work for a percentage, so if you dont make anything they don’t. Call around to companies who make the type of product and see what you can find, tell them you are a product developer and get a name of a contact. It may take a lot of work but well worth it in the end. If a product is good enough, you shouldn’t need a middle man to get someones attention. Hope this info helps