Toys and Tools, I don’t know weather to shop or invent now,,
I saw some of those bench dog products at the lowes. I am thinking about getting one of those feather locks.

Here is one
http://www.buildersinventions.org/?page=home
I met the cord snake inventor at the San Jose Casting call.
http://www.cordsnake.com/

These other organization had s Table at the San Jose Casting call.

http://www.inventorsalliance.org/

And of course the Kleen Slate lady lectures at the casting calls

http://www.kleenslate.com/index.html

TAC those are good links once you have a invention made or product to sell. I am referring to companies that you can approach with a prototype, concept drawing of a toy, tool, etc idea and they license it,make it and pay you a royalty.

Have you heard of anything good or bad about submitting ideas to The Container Store?

I see what you are saying Roger, so the places you listed can be approached BEFORE you have done much development???

well here is another anyways.. but you are encouraged to have a patent first.

http://www.strongtie.com/ideas/index.htm?source=topnav

This is a great idea to post, thanks Roger. Anyone know of companies like this that accept ideas/inventions for baby products? Garden products? Maternity? Home goods?

Here is one for Baby products http://www.mommyshelperinc.com

Here is one for garden items. They have to be patented. Do not submit to them just an idea. http://www.gardenweasel.com/invention_submission/forms.asp

Roger,
Have you worked with the baby product company? I do not have a patent and am finding it extremely difficult to find companies who will sign a non-disclosure agreement. I’m thinking maybe I should file a PPA and then show it to one of the big companies who won’t sign. My only fear is they will make a slightly different product to claim as their own. Anyone have any ideas?

Hi, Laura,

I am no expert, but showing your ideas to anyone who will not sign a NDA does not seem smart.

Is there a less obvious company who might be interested in marketing your product? The other night I was looking through the Thomas Register site to see if anyone was marketing my product. I found items very similar, but not exactly what I invented. BUT, since they have related products I am wondering if they might be interested in producing my product. These companies have been in business many years, but they aren’t the Sharpie, or Bic, or Tupperware kind of names.

So, see what you can find in Thomas Register, contact anyone with a similar product and see if they will sign an NDA. In not, you have learned something in the porcess.

Laura, the companies I have listed here will sign NDAs. The last time I contacted them they did not need the idea to be patented, but I would inquire with them to see if that has changed.
You are correct it is hard to find companies to approach. I spend probably 85% of my time finding these companies and 15% inventing. It can be done you just have to keep at it. That is the reason I started this post. I would like others to contribute names of companies so that we can all benefit from the information.

Here are some additonal companies that will deal directly with Inventors. Anyone have any others?

http://www.benchdog.com/

http://www.johnsonlevel.com

I don’t know if they take unsolicited ideas, but Samsonite’s baby travel division holds an annual contest and they seem very friendly. http://www.baby-travel.com/designcomp

Jokari is a good organizational products company willing to look at inventions that fit into that category. They will sign an NDA.

http://www.jokari.com/inventors.html

I have dealt with Jokari before. They are very prompt in their responses.

I have a question on approaching companies before you get a PPA. Do most of you all get PPA’s at least on your ideas before submitting to companies, or do you sometimes throw it out there to see if you get a bite before you submit it? I wondered if you say there is a PPA on it, how will they know? They can not do a search on a patent pending idea can they? Just wondered if everyone goes the whole mile before they plunge? And if you can not find a patent on something but there is one similar the company may find on it’s own, do you all brainstorm to see how to change it up some, or does the whole idea get scrapped?

Finally, what happens when a patent ends and no one extends it or another patent is not like it out there…is it now open game? Do you try to get your idea patented then if it is somewhat different or what?

Celest, I’m certainly no expert, but as a basic strategy, I like to thoroughly research an idea for several months, using the USPTO website, Google, Yahoo, archive.org, and any other site that may be appropriate. If I’ve searched every possible site and find no prior art, then I spring for a provisional patent. I’m lucky in that I can write the claims and have a team of IP lawyers look it over for me. Most people would have to pay through the nose for that. If you read some of the books listed in this forum http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/3/topics/104, you can do a pretty good job of it yourself. Not as good as a bunch of lawyers, but likely good enough to establish you as the inventor. The provisional is a good form of evidence to prove you originated the idea. Abroad, that doesn’t mean much. But here in the USA it gives you the patent rights, should someone try to rip you off. At $105 a pop, its well worth it. Also check out some of the other forum entries regarding your understanding of patents/provisionals,etc. There some pretty good stuff here. http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/2/topics/25
Good Luck!

http://www.parentsofinvention.com I signed their NDA, but never submitted my idea because they don’t take ideas for my area of invention.

Hi Roger,
Thank you for the information. I was wondering if you or anyone else out there know of a Food & Beverage co. That would hear from outside inventors?
I appreciate any help. I have had two or three products almost make it but only got so far as getting a licensing agent, that didn’t sell it. Anyway thanks!

Trish

Hi Trish, I tried to email you. But I guess it never made it to you, or you were uninterested in anything I had to say. Assuming the former, Food and Beverage is a tough nut to crack. Big players spending millions on very well-researched marketing concepts. If your product is a unique health food, I’ve got a lot of good recommendations. If it’s really good (meaning really healthy), I have a lot of connections in the industry who may be interested.

Nice post Roger! I don’t fear submitting ideas to companies without protection although I have not done so in about 10 years after having two big ideas that were used for which I was not compensated for.

Understand this, If these two of the top 100 U.S. companies did not use my idea I would not be where I am today AT ALL. This gave me the confidence and I have all proof with the letters back and forth to lawyers and executives.

I then knew I could “think as good as the big guys” Also, my exchange of paperwork with them builds my reputation and resume. I say don’t be so scared! I am so glad they used my idea! I never expected compensation in the first place, I considered it a job application.

Should someone wish to gamble on an idea with even weak protection (99% of patents are weak I think)do this. Try to target the #2 company and say CLEARLY but humbly you would rather stop there first than #1 corporation (state a reason)

Odds are they will work quite well with you and will offer you so you shut up and don’t go to their bigger competition that they have been trying to get a leg up on for years.

CREATE LEVERAGE…this can be MUCH more powerful than a patent I say. How valuable was the patent on Band-Aids, Scotch Tape, Coca-Cola? None. There was no patent, it was all about jump on the market share. This is what a manufacturer wants even more than a patent.

So be slick, you will need a trick against the big guys.Get the bigger companies contacts…like I have done with the largest known company on my writing/scribing invention’s field. They did not give me the hospitality I wanted. I will go to the #2,3 or 4 company and surely mention the other companies. I will be treated golden. I will create leverage.

My patent on the writing/scribing instrument tool should issue in a few months, but still, it is possible for someone to get around by tweaking but I know I have the concept cornered as most optimum. Still…there is always a way around, they might not be the winner in the end, ask any high executive as they laugh at patent protection sometimes.

Create your leverage and anything is possible, patent or no patent. And who says if you give a company an idea and they take it, you can’t go to work for the competitor to try and get market back as they pay you as a sales exec, R&D guy and wait for you to come up with a bigger idea yet!

File the provisional for $105 atleast, but sometimes an idea does not warrant that or even need that, just a handshake.

Too many worry and do nothing. Protect yourself if you can, if not get in the ring anyway. Ain’t no excitement watching all the time!

Roger, I will carefully note these companies you posted. Besides taking ideas without patent protection, they show they respect and work with us little guys! Thanks!

Ron Komorowski
Inventor of Handi-Straps
www.handi-straps.com

Thanks for the kind words Trisha and Ron. The only contact I have for a beverage company is Coca Cola. I would send a query letter to this address first.

send proposal to
Proposal Specialists
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA 30301

OK Roger…where is your source…cough it up…we want more. You must have a book or something.

By the way, Toy Inventor’s Handbook. It lists about 300 companies that take submissions and the contact names and phone #, how many ideas were submitted and how many they take per year. GREAT book! The toy industry generally works without patents because before a patent issues a hot toy has come and been retired BUT you do hear many ideas and fights over stolen ideas.

Generally the toy industry is closed to inventors they do not know because they build a loyal trust and everyone has a toy idea, so they only wish for proven toy inventor professionals but this book does give the smaller companies that are hard to find that break that “rule of industry”

Before Louis throws a brick through my window at night for telling other ways to submit your idea, Edison Nation teams are professional and it will be hard to find a better way for a beginner. Consider Edison Nation as a licensing agent which is a good idea and I highly doubt a company would dare rip off an idea presented by Edison Nation.

Ron Komorowski
Inventor of Handi-Straps
www.handi-straps.com

Hi Ron,

My source is all the hard hands on work I have done over the last couple of years. Since I have inventions licensed in the toy, tool, kitchen, nuclear, and eyewear industries I have had to cultivate a wide base of contacts. I am always looking for more contacts in different fields since you never know what you might think of next.
I agree the toy industry is a very hard nut to crack if you don’t have a relationship with the companies. It all goes back to that old question " You can’t get a job without experience, but you can’t get experience without the job."
Once you have a couple of inventions on the market they are more apt to listen and look at what you have to offer. The issue is getting those first companies to take a chance on you. I have been very fortunate in both of those areas.

Hi Roger,
Do you find that potential licensors in the toy industry require previous success in the exact same market? For example, if you’ve designed some successful children’s school gear, would a toy manufacturer be more likely to hear your new toy pitch?

I was able to talk fine with Mattel after I told them about some of my other projects but as a rule Mattel is closed to uninvited toy inventors. Says so in the Toy Inventors Handbook too as well as other toy inventor pieces.

Get the book…or thumb through in the library. I will get back to my toy idea but my choice would be a smaller company that is willing to work with you more. Don’t forget, 5% royalties is 20% of the profit, maybe more. Tough to get a big company to want to partner up with you to that degree, think about it, for just coming up with the idea and they do all the legwork…oh yeah…you gotta open the envelope up and cash the check, that is some work.

Do you know why Roger is so successful? Talk to an inventor, they mention the biggest of companies because that is what they hear of and know. Roger’s list here are all the not so big companies that you wouldn’t generally hear of.

Small toy companies you can crack without a problem without a special reputation. Maybe these companies don’t even get in the ring, the primary markets with Hasbros and Mattels; that is ok. The secondary market for toys is as big as the primary markets for other products.

What do you think Roger? Am I making sense? This is only my theory that works for me as I see it should for small guys.

Ron Komorowski
Inventor of Handi-Straps
www.handi-straps.com

Wow … It’s a bit different in the natural products/health food industry. Seems like the small companies don’t have enough cash to pay royalties or licensing fees. Your best bet in Naturals is with some of the larger companies.

I’m lucky, I cut my teeth and still work for a company that is now one of the largest. We very rarely get into licensing agreements that don’t include the fees into the sale price of an ingredient.

Actually, it’s a whole different world compared to toys and other non-consumables. Man, I have a lot to learn here! But I haven’t had this much fun developing a product in years!

Hi Rafael, Thank you for your response. However it is a tool/accessory not edible :) It is for use in the restaurant, bar industry. Thanks for your help

Trish

Sorry, Trish. I misunderstood. Must have been my 3AM anxious stupor, trying to see if I made it past phase 1!

Hi Rafael and Ron,

Sorry for the late response I have been out of contact for a while. The medium sized companies are more open to Inventors because they want to be a Mattel or Hasbro. The large companies need a toy to make mega bucks to make it worth their effort. A medium company has less overhead and can make a toy that sells 500 thousand units profitable. A toy with that sales size would be a medium to small seller for a Mattel sized company and they would be looking at dropping it.
The medium company wants more shelf space in a store. The way to accomplish that is to expand your line with good products that sell. So, they are more open to good ideas.
Sometimes a company can get so big that they have so many layers of management that they can’t make a decision quickly. A prime example of that is a company (that will remain nameless other than to say they are well known)that I was scheduled to give a presentation for my idea. I sat in this huge room as they had a weekly meeting, waiting for my turn to present. They were discussing the Coca-Cola machine I passed in the hallway. The discussion was their second time bringing it up at a meeting. They were trying to decide whether to move the machine 20 feet further down the hall from its present position. They could not decide and opted to bring it up at a future meeting.
Seeing this made me wonder how they would make a decision on my idea if a Coke machine brought them that much trouble. I was right. My idea stayed in limbo with them for 6 months with me finally telling them I was moving on to other companies. Sometimes BIG is not BETTER. : )

Hi Roger,
You have a good point there. Compared to other companies in the Natural Products/Health Food Industry, we’re unquestionably a large company. But compared to other similar industries like food drug & mass, we’re really more of a mid-size company at best. I guess its all relative.

So, I would agree, companies our size (500 to 1000 employees) would be the best to approach. We just released one of my best ideas yet, and its going blockbuster. I got a sales pitch from an innovative ingredients supplier. I liked the product but not the target. So I tweaked it and launched the product 8 months later. But I imagine a company the size of Proctor and Gamble would have been mired in internal meetings and debates for years before launching a product like it.

Strange how my first impression was that these markets are much different than mine. But a little perspective shows they’re really quite similar.

I recently read “How to License your Million Dollar Idea” by Harvey Moore. I highly recommend it as it deals with how to approach companies and get your ideas licensed, and deals with some of these issues.

Bradley….isn’t that Harvey Reese? I’m sure it is. Read that book 5 years ago. EXCELLENT….so much info you need that nobody else supplied in any other book. Helped me alot.

Something else, when you read the book and see how complicated it can be…you see why a licensing agent can be your best choice.

In a sense when it comes down to it Edison Nation is a licensing agent. Licensing agents will cost 25% to 50% of your royalties.

They can be worth it. I sat down with a toy company and made a major blunder stating Mattel typically pays 2 1/2% (that is because of the volume and international sales) The CEO of the company said well that is what we would pay too.

My big mouth could have cost 50% of the royalties. When you sit in that conference room with executive eyes staring at you and executive teeth trying to chew you up, so easy to make a mistake.

That is your protection sometimes, a licensing agent, but then are they any good? How do you know they won’t mess up? Not being partial but truthful, Edison Nation has got to know what they are doing by now and would be a good choice in my opinion.

Complicating stuff, this inventing is sometimes.

Ron Komorowski
Inventor of Handi-Straps
www.handi-straps.com

Ron,

You’re right, it’s Reese… don’t know what I was thinking.

Brad

Here is another one to try. http://www.benchdog.com
Products Sought: Tools for the woodworking industry aimed at either the do-it-yourselfer, the contractor/carpenter/cabinetmaker set, or industrial tools and tooling.
They are very quick to answer back on submissions.

I don’t have a company to add to the list yet, but I thought we needed to bring this topic back up and get some work on it.

I know that I am not the only one here that has contacts that others could benefit from using, All I am asking is to post one of them here.
Here is another one to try. They do office products.
http://www.fellowes.com/Fellowes/site/home.aspx
1789 Norwood Avenue
Itasca, IL 60143-1095

Thanks Roger, we can always count on you for
help.

Okay, I don’t have personal knowledge of these, but they do state they are open to inventors and their submissions:

http://www.aqualeisure.com/site/
http://www.fundexgames.com/
http://www.gcioutdoor.com/
http://www.kraco.com/home.htm
http://www.lislecorp.com/
http://www.sportime.com/
http://www.stridetool.com/
http://www.koven.com/

Toni, that last one might be good for you.
Mark, this might be good for your hand:

http://www.ossur.com/

I did some heavy Googling and found these companies. I have not done due diligence on them, so am not recommending them. But if one fits what you’re looking for, you can at least start there knowing that these companies should at least be open to looking at your idea.

Thanks Mike, I will check out koven.com

Mike…Great Job

This is great, thanks everyone.

I just want to thank all of you posting here. I have contacted 2 from the lists here. I am in process with connecting with Jokari for 2 ideas and I just found one today for car goods, that I wrote. Thanks to Roger, I am finally biting the bit and moving forward on some of my ideas. You can not make a deal if you do not contact anyone to deal with!

how long do we have to take the opt in button for our online submissions and for how long??
thanks

I have dealt with these companies and they are good to deal with.
http://www.aqualeisure.com/site/
http://www.fundexgames.com/
http://www.kraco.com/home.htm
http://www.lislecorp.com/
http://www.stridetool.com/

I will check out the others on the list. Great work everyone. lets keep them coming.

Roger, I’ve got a question. I notice alot of these sites are set up for inventors to just fill out a form and send in their invention ideas.

I was wondering how someone who doesn’t have a patent or a patent pending invention should approach them? I mean, should we not fill out the submission and ask them to sign a NDA? If so, what do I do if they decline?

Anyone know of any pet product companies that are inventor friendly? I just recently emailed Hyper Products http://www.hyper-products.com/index.html and waiting to hear back from them.

Hey Jason, I resonded in another thread, but on Stephen Key’s website, www.inventright.com there is an inventor there who talks about his experience and his first product he licensed to hyper products. So they are at least experienced in licensing from an independent.

Mike, were you on the phone conference July 30?

Nope. My wife worked late so it was boys night.

Way to go, Celeste! The first step is the hardest, eh? How are you contacting them?