Keep Your Trade Secret for Your Invention Idea Confidential

As an inventor, if you decide NOT to patent an invention idea then you can take steps in order to keep your idea secret. One of these steps is through the use of trade secret protection.

When Should you Consider Trade Secret Protection?

• You don’t want to invest in a patent for your invention idea.
• You have a unique competitive advantage over your competition in terms of a design, manufacturing, production capability and/or business process.
• You have filed for a patent but are still waiting for your patent to be granted.
• You know that you can take precautions to keep your invention idea a secret. This also includes disclosing your trade secret only to those that agree that they will keep this information secret.

If you are still confused as to whether you need to be concerned with trade secret protection ask yourself, “If my competition were to get ahold of this information would my business be financially impacted?” If your answer is, “yes” then you should be thinking about implementing trade secret protection(s).

Can I Register a Trade Secret?
No, you cannot ‘register’ a trade secret. Why? Because there is an understanding that once the trade secret is ‘registered’ that it would no longer be ‘secret’.

Functional Versus Non Functional Trade Secrets
Suppose you have created a great new life raft for ocean going ships to use in case of emergencies. In addition, one of the great features about your life raft is a new highly reflective florescent orange coloring that you created for use in its construction. Since your new reflective orange coloring is 1000 times brighter than anything on the market today it makes your life raft a highly visible object out on the ocean which is very desirable feature to have in emergencies. In this case, the formula for the highly reflective florescent orange coloring could be considered a functional trade secret.

As for a nonfunctional trade secret, imagine that you have come up with a really great name and logo for your new invention idea. However, you haven’t filed for a trademark yet on your product name and logo. In this case, keeping your new logo and invention idea name a secret is key. Although, once you acquire your trademark or use your new logo and invention idea name in public, you will no longer fall under trade secret protection but, instead, will fall under trademark protection.

Precautions against Disclosing a Trade Secret
Inventors that fail to implement protections to keep their trade secret from being disclosed have very little legal recourse, if any when it comes to trade secret law. Therefore, the more valuable your trade secret (i.e., the greater the financial impact should your trade secret be revealed) the greater the protections that you need to implement. What kind of precautions should you implement? Well, that depends. If your trade secret isn’t all that valuable then placing your trade secret in a folder marked, ‘confidential’ and locking it in a filing cabinet may be sufficient. On the other hand, if you are the CEO of Coca Cola, you’d probably implement multiple layers of protection in order to keep your secret formula protected.

Another way to protect your trade secret from disclosure is to implement a form of legal compulsion. This means that before you reveal your trade secret to anyone else that this individual would sign some sort of non-disclosure agreement. Should the individual later reveal your trade secret then you have a means of legally seeking damages from this individual. As a side note, individuals that have a fiduciary (legally binding) duty such as lawyers to keep your idea secret if it was revealed to them will NOT be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

What if I Decide to Disclose my Trade Secret to the Public?
If you decide to disclose your trade secret about an invention idea to the public, your trade secret protection will typically be terminated at that point. In addition, you will not be able to seek any monetary damages once you have disclosed your trade secret. Therefore, you should heavily consider the costs of filing a patent on your invention idea versus any potential financial loses that you may incur once you decide to disclose your trade secret.

What Do I Do if my Trade Secret was Violated?
Sometimes, your trade secret may be misappropriated through illegal means (theft, bribery, industrial espionage, etc.) or by individuals that promised not to disclose your trade secret but did so anyway despite a written agreement. If you can show that:

1. You took precautions to protect your trade secret AND
2. Your trade secret was acquired through improper means

Then you may be able to seek legal recourse to prevent people from using your trade secret for financial gain

When you CANNOT seek legal recourse for a trade secret violation

• If another company manages to reverse engineer your trade secret. Suppose another company legally purchases your life raft with the super bright orange florescent coating. This company then takes your raft apart and chemically analyzes the make up of your orange coating. After several months, the company finally manages to reverse engineer the formula that you are using. In this case, your competitor will be free to legally manufacture a similar super bright orange florescent coating for their products.
• Another inventor just happens to independently invent your trade secret. Suppose that Jim was experimenting with creating a super bright orange florescent pen to highlight text in a textbook. Jim, completely independently from you, legally managed to create the exact same super bright orange florescent coating that you are using for your life raft. In this case, you would not be able to seek legal recourse against Jim for the violation of your trade secret.
• It’s proven that you disclosed your trade secret to someone without following the proper steps to keep your trade secret confidential. Suppose that you told Jane about your trade secret without having Jane sign a non-disclosure agreement. Jane then told a friend who posted the trade secret to a social media site. In this case, your trade secret has gone public and you will NOT have any legal recourse against Jane because you failed to keep your trade secret confidential.

How long does trade secret protection last?
Forever, so long as you manage to keep the information about the trade secret confidential. Note: Both the secret formula for Coca Cola and the Kentucky Fried Chicken secret recipe have been kept for a very long time.

You filed a Patent, Will your Trade Secret Protection be Lost?
No, not initially. You still have the right to trade secrecy protection up to 18 months from the date your patent was filed. If, after this time, your patent is granted and published, then you will lose your trade secret protection. On the other hand, if your patent was both rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) AND it was not published, then trade secret protection will still apply

As you can see, protecting your invention idea through trade secret law is a valid option. Remember, the key to trade secret protection is keeping your invention idea secret. Therefore, (1) limit the number of people that know about your invention idea, (2) get those non-disclosure agreements signed, and (3) implement physical means of control to protect your ideas.

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Inventors, Keep it Simple Stupid

“Keep it simple stupid (KISS)”, should be the mantra that goes through the head’s of all inventors.  Now, if you feel insulted by that mantra, you can always use, “less is more” or “keep it simple sweetheart”, your choice. Regardless, below are a few great ways for inventors to keep their invention ideas simple.

Feature Paralysis
Feature paralysis can cost you money. What’s feature paralysis? Well, back in 1995, Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia University conducted a classic study showing the problems associated when customers are faced with too many choices. Two different displays of tasty jams were set up in a store — One with 24 different types of jams and the other with only 6 different types of jams. Sixty percent of customers went towards the display with 24 jams while 40% of customers went to the display with only 6 jams. Clearly, having more choices is a good thing, right? Think again, only 3% of customers faced with 24 possible choices of jams actually made a purchase. On the other hand 30% of customers made a purchase when faced with only 6 possible choices of jams. Inventors, realize that by offering more choices, selections, or features, to your potential customers that you may actually be limiting your potential income by a whopping 10 fold!

Your Invention Idea’s Elevator Pitch
Can you successfully describe to your potential customers a summary of exactly what your invention does along with it’s projected benefits within a single elevator ride (anywhere between thirty seconds to two minutes)? Practicing the art of the Elevator Pitch is a great way for inventors to remain focused around what their product does and the value that it will provide. Having a really classy and to the point elevator pitch may also come in handy when you are trying to seek funding for your invention idea or you are trying to license out your idea.

Invent with Simplicity in Mind
Simplicity is difficult and takes time.  Remember that English teacher back in your early years of schooling that would make you write a four page paper?  You moaned and you groaned but you managed to get it done, right?  Unfortunately, what sometimes happens is that your teacher would then turn around and say, “The next lesson is to take this 4 page paper and condense it into a single paragraph that can be no more than 5 lines”.  Remember how much longer it took you to do this lesson?   Well, the same thing can be said of inventing with simplicity in mind. Perhaps, Leonardo Da Vinci said it best, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

Return to Sender
So you think that complexity still isn’t an issue?  Ask yourself, “How many times have I been baffled by an overly complex product”?  What happens in these cases?  For most of us, we simply become overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to use the device.  Not only that, but we often become annoyed and overwhelmed with the number of features. Then anger sets in and we typically return the product where we purchased it from.  But most of us don’t stop there, we often tell others NOT to use the product that we had so much trouble with.  As a side note: Studies have shown that, on average, consumers will spend about 20 minutes trying to get your invention to work as intended.  After that, it will likely end up on a returned rack in the store that it was purchased from.

Feature Roll-Outs
Want another excuse not to pack tons of features into your one invention idea? Get in the mindset of implementing feature rollouts. Slowly rolling out additional features or add-ons to your product slowly not only reduces the complexity of your invention but it is also a great way to extend your invention’s product lifecycle. In addition, a longer product lifecycle typically means more money in your pocket.

Know When to Ask for Help
Never be afraid to seek outside help when designing your invention to be as simplistic and useful as possible.  As inventors, we often need to take a step back and get a fresh perspective as to where our invention designs need to go.

The Dreaded Feature Creep
Sometimes as inventors we try to make an invention that does twenty different things merely satisfactory rather concentrated on doing one thing superbly. How many times have you seen products on television that say something to the effect of, “It’s a blender, a mixer, a juicer, a slicer, and a soup maker all in one”? Feature creep can cause all sorts of headaches for inventors with a brilliant invention idea including:

• Increasing project risks.
• Increasing project costs.
• Increasing the length of time to design, build, and/or market your invention.

When you find yourself falling into the dreaded realms of feature creep, simply stop and go back to a few fundamentals. These fundamentals can include:

• Understanding the skill level of your potential customers when it comes to operating your invention idea.
• Providing instructions that are clear and concise.
• Asking potential customers which feature is most important to them and then designing around this feature.
• Treat people like individuals rather than machines.
• Realize that you can’t please everyone.
• Practice the old Chinese proverb, “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand”.

So what are you waiting for?  Get out there and start inventing with simplicity in mind.  Your customers will definitely thank you for it.

You Might Also Like the Following Related Posts:

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Tips for finding that Perfect Product Name for Your Invention Ideas

Think that naming your brand new product will be easy?  Think again.  One the hardest hurdles that any inventor may face is coming up with an original, appealing, and descriptive product name.  Consider that company branding has gone from the creative to the bizarre over the last two decades, finding a product name that hasn’t already been taken or somehow doesn’t violate someone’s trademark may also prove to be quite challenging. Below, we’ll talk about a few things to avoid and a few thing to incorporate when trying to find that perfect product name.

Numbers and Versions
You just happen to name your newest product the X7 or Mark III.  Immediately, questions might pop into the minds of your potential customers, “What happened to the other X1′s through X6’s”?  Then again, your customers may be left wondering what the difference is between your Mark I and Mark II compared to your new Mark III. As if that isn’t confusing enough for your customers, maybe you decided that your newer products will have lower number ranges than your older products. Play it safe, avoid numbers and versions of your products unless you happen to be a well established company like Nikon or Nokia.

Going Descriptive
Descriptive names are great for new products.  A perfect example is the GoPro Hero wearable camera for sports enthusiasts and your aspiring film directors. First the company name, “GoPro” makes you feel like their products will put you into a more professional realm and it sounds just plain cool.  Second, the model “Hero” makes it sound that if you wear this portable camera that you might potentially be the hero of any video you happen to record. Go descriptive and chances are you’ll improve the odds of your invention idea selling.

Getting Expensive
If you are looking for a high end product name that conveys a sort of luxurious lifestyle associated with using your invention idea, then consider using a person’s full name.  Furniture designers tend to name classic furniture pieces after their clients.  On the other hand, should your inventions be popular enough, you might be able to start branding everything with Your Name. You might just be the next Louis Vuitton of inventing.

Creating a Piece of Identity
Wouldn’t it be great if you could make your invention a part of your customer’s identity?  Don’t know what I mean? Some perfect examples are the differences between Mac and Windows users or between iPhone or Android users. Clearly, each product is seen as a prestige piece within a customer’s identity. Ask yourself how you can potentially leverage your invention idea product name to become the next great prestige piece.

Product Acronyms
Acronyms are great for well established companies with well established brands.  Take for example VW.  Most of us know that VW actually stands for Volkswagen.  How about BMW, another famous car company?  Well, BMW stands for, uh…?  Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or English, Bavarian Motor Works.  Okay, so that one was harder and most of us probably didn’t have a clue as to what BMW stands for which leads us to a problem.  Using acronyms for your inventions when you have just started out with an unknown product might not be the way to go.  Imagine if you came up with a product that you sold as RCA which stands for Really Clever Actuator in your case.  Little did you know that there are 54 difference abbreviations out there for RCA.  Check out www.abbreviations.com where you can search for a variety of acronyms and their meanings to help avoid potential customer confusion when it comes to your product.

Welcome to the ‘i’ World
It seems like everyone with a new application or Apple related product are attaching an ‘i’ to the front of their product’s name.  Some perfect examples of products that we use on a daily basis here are iProcrastinate and iAnnotate.  If your product is software related or techie related, then you might want to think about whether attaching the ‘i’ to the front of your product name will help it get better visibility on the market.

International Cautions
Want to go international with your product?  You might want to start thinking about how your product name translates into the the language of your target international market.  A classic example was Kentucky Fried Chicken’s famous slogan, “Finger licking good”.  The phrase sounds great in English but when they tried to use the slogan in China, customers avoided KFC like the plague.  The reason?  “Finger licking good” had been translated into “eat your fingers off”.  Clearly, not an appetizing slogan for a food related product.  A common solution to avoid any sort of translational suicide may be to come up with words that are common yet slightly modified such as Flickr.  Then again, you could dust off your Latin or archaic language dictionary for a name that might sound appealing yet lessens the chances of losing something in the translation.

Pronounceable Product Names
Is your brand name easy to pronounce?  If you have a brand name that can only be said if you have marbles in your mouth, then chances are, it’s probably not the world’s greatest name. A really interesting site where you can generate random possible product names based upon a few keywords that describe your product is www.netsubstance.com. Sure, 95% of the product names that NetSubstance pulls up might not be relevant but you never know – there might just be a gem in there too.

Going Professional
Then again, if you have the capital, you can always hire a branding company out there to give you a list of a few dozen potential product names. Just be cautioned, it will set you back quite a sum of money but the end results will likely be worth it.

Product Name Obsolescence
Even with the best product name that you could come up with and trademark may not necessarily mean that your product will be recognized as unique forever.  Classic examples of this scenario include both Band-Aids and Kleenex tissues.  Both of product names are used as generic terms to mean an adhesive bandage and a tissue, respectively. Then again, both of these products proved extremely successful when they first started out, as well.

Trademarking the Impossible
Some product names simply can’t be trademarked because they are far too common.  If you want to check to see if your product name is available you’ll want to look at trade journals, product directories, take a trip to your local business school’s library, do an internet search, or break down and hire an attorney to do a trademark search for you. Either way, doing a search of your potential product name first will save you major headaches in the future particularly in terms of avoiding potential trademark infringement legal woes.

Now get out there and come up with the perfect product name for your newest invention ideas.

Is my Invention Idea any Good?

Welcome to part two of our two part post on how to evaluate if your potential invention idea is any good or not.  If you missed part one, you can read it here.

Money, Money, Money…

• Earlier we mentioned that you need to make sure that your invention idea doesn’t infringe upon the rights of other products already out there on the market.  Clearly, the most thorough way of doing this is by conducting an intellectual property search.  If you know that you have the skills to do this on your own, then great.  If not, then you’ll need to think about hiring a patent attorney along with the costs associated for doing so.  Regardless of whether you do your own patent search or whether you’re hiring a patent attorney to do it for you, keep your eyes opened for any potential untapped niches that might be out there for your invention.  Most patent attorneys or patent search firms will be able to identify some of these areas.  Listen to their advice.
• Will pursuing a patent on your invention idea be worth the initial expense?  In other words, will the potential long term compensation in terms of profits on your products cover your patent related expenses?  There may be no point in patenting an invention idea if there really isn’t a potential market for your product.
• Sometimes, we also need to identify how much the raw materials will cost in order to mass produce our inventions.  In addition, you need to figure out if these raw materials need to be processed in any fashion in order to construction your product.
• If you don’t have all the required skills to design, patent, build, and market your idea then how much will it cost to pay others?  Sometimes we take for granted how much we think we really know.  Take time to recognize when you need to reach out for professional help.
• How much time and manpower will be required to construct your invention?  If your invention has 2000 small plastic parts that are relatively inexpensive but it takes several hundred labor hours to construct each piece then your costs to expenses ratio for labor alone will be a problem.
• You may be thinking to yourself, “Production costs don’t really mean anything to me because I plan on licensing my idea”.  Sorry to burst your bubble but think again.  Companies that may potential license your idea will likely be more concerned about the costs associated with your product than you.  Identifying all up front and long term costs associated with your product will not only help you out but may put you on better terms with potential companies willing to license your idea.
•  So you find that the costs of your producing your invention are much higher than you had originally anticipated, now what?  If you find yourself in this situation, you’ll really need to spend the time figuring out ways to cut costs without impacting quality.

Appearances are Everything

Does your invention idea have a novelty factor associated with it?  Are there ways to make your product stand out from the competition by changing the appearance or tailoring your product for a specific consumer market?  It didn’t take Gucci to jump on the iPhone/iPod touch case bandwagon.  What better way to show off your elate style than by purchasing a $185 Gucci case?  In all seriousness, take some time to really think about how your invention idea can take full advantage of current trends.

Conclusion

Now that you are consciously aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your invention idea you have a couple of options available.  You can:

• Put your head down and proceed with getting your invention idea out there to the masses.
• Alter the design, form, or function of your invention to make it more appealing to potential customers.  NOTE:  Once you make these modifications, you’ll want to reevaluate your invention idea again to see where it stands.  That way, you know if the modifications have hurt your invention idea or helped it.
• Figure out what things you can really do yourself rather than relying on the expertise of others at a cost.  If you don’t know something ask yourself if it would be cheaper to take a class, read a book, or attend a seminar?
• Scrap your invention idea altogether.  Pulling the plug early may save you considerable time, effort, and money on an invention idea that really might not go anywhere.
• Do nothing.  Sometimes you just get a sense that your idea would be a success if you sat back and waited for things to change.  Maybe you are waiting on the economy to improve or you have a feeling that the next big consumer craze around the corner just happens to be in the niche that your invention will fill.

You Might Also Like the Following Related Posts:

• Have What it Takes to be a Successful Inventor?
• Evaluating your Invention Idea
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Is my Invention Idea any Good?

Let’s face it, your time is valuable but your invention ideas may or may not be.  It’s time to set your passions aside for a second and really evaluate whether your invention idea is any good or not.  Below is the beginning of a two part post on questions that you should ask yourself when evaluating your invention ideas.

Compare and Contrast

• Are there other products out there on the market that are similar to your invention?  If so, how does your invention set itself apart compared to these competing products?  Remember, you’ll also need to make sure that your invention ideas do not infringe upon the rights of other products that are already out there on the market.  Your patent attorney can point out any potential problems for you if you decide to go ahead with a patent search.
• Does your invention have built in obsolescence?  In other words, if your invention idea takes advantage of the latest in technological wizardry then will people still be interested in it 18 months from now?  If not, then your invention idea may have built in obsolescence which may or may not be a good thing (By the way, MBA’s like to call this a product’s lifecycle).

Can you Relate?

• How many possible benefits can you identify by using your invention?  Does your invention save the customer time when used properly?  Does your invention possess that “wow” factor to improve the lives of your potential consumer?  If you find that your invention ideas are lacking in benefits, figure out how you can modify your product to make it more appealing.
• There are so many new innovations out there that require a degree in rocket science to not only understand but also to use.  Is your invention one of them?  Consumers are often drawn to products that are easier to use than other available choice.  Having a product that does not require complicated instructions can help set you apparent from your competition.  Sometimes, the ultimate goal is for consumers to not only love your invention but to also become dependent upon it.
• Will your consumers even accept your product once it goes to market?  Perhaps, you can gather a small survey sample of potential customers to tell you what they think of your product before you get too far with mass producing your invention idea?  Surveys are a great way to find out what your target market wants and needs.  If you are looking for a profitable invention then sitting down with your potential customers should definitely put you on the right path.
• Sometimes if you are truly innovative with your new invention idea, you might not be able to make any comparisons between your product and other products out there are on the market.  That’s okay too.  Do the best you can in terms of putting yourself in your potential customer’s shoes.  The more you think like an end consumer, the more profitable your invention idea will likely become.

Get Physical

• Are you even sure that your invention is going to work?  Sometimes, the smartest thing to do is to invest in a prototype of your invention idea first.  That way, you can see exactly how your invention idea fuctions.  In addition, having an actual prototype is a great way of finding out ways to improve your invention idea to make it more useful and marketable to the masses.
• The size of your invention could be important, as well.  Is your invention bigger or smaller than other products out there on the market?  Next, evaluate if the size of your invention is an asset or a detriment.
• How much does your invention idea weigh?  Is it lighter or heavier compared to other products out there on the market?  Again, evaluate whether the weight of your invention is an asset or a detriment.
• Is your invention idea more precise or accurate than the competition?  Remember, having a high quality product could potentially set you apart from your competition.  Ask yourself how you can take advantage of this asset.

Safety First and Going Green

• Will your invention idea be safe to use?  Is there a way for your product to become the niche leader in terms of safety?  Take for example Dyson’s Air Multiplier fan.  One of their major selling points is that their fan does not having any rotating blades that could potentially cause injury to children.
• Another great trend to be a part of nowadays is having an invention idea that is environmentally friendly.  Not only is this a great selling point but there is also a lot of opportunity for environmentally friendly niche products out there on the market.  How can your invention idea take advantage of this?

Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll talk about some more questions that you need to ask when evaluating your invention idea.  In the meantime, go get started answering some of the questions we outlined above right now!

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Tap Your Creativity for an Inspiring Invention Idea

Coming up with creative invention ideas requires that you investigate a variety of different ways to do something regardless of how unlikely they may seem. Below are a few ways that we recommend to help push your inventor mind beyond the conventional and the comfortable.

Don’t Just Think, DO!
Simply reading about ways to develop great creative invention ideas won’t help you come up with the next great multimillion dollar invention. Rather, you MUST:

• Thoroughly understand how to apply creative invention idea techniques.
• Put these creativity techniques into actual use.

Only then, will the depth of your creativity expand.

Look to Other Great Thinkers for Inspiration
There is nothing wrong with mimicking people that are already highly creative in the specific field you are looking to invent in. Keep a list of all the people that truly inspire you. Write down what their creative traits are and exactly why the inspire you. Questions to ask yourself are:

• How do they solve problems?
• What secret methods do they use?
• Who are their heroes or sources of inspiration?
• What makes them stand out compared to other people?

Take on a Different Role
Ask yourself how different customers would use or experience a specific invention idea.  The more creative you are in putting yourself in the role of different customers the better.  In the end, maybe your end customer may not be the one that you had originally intended for an invention idea.

Don’t Be Such a Logical Inventor
Those individuals that find themselves the most creative and the most successful use both the right sides and left sides of their brains equally. Unfortunately, most inventors seem to be just left brained. In other words, they love working in the realms of logic and language. On the other hand, right brain people are the ones that love to focus on nonverbal tasks such as painting and drawing.  If you can combine your logical side of your brain with your artistic side you’ll find yourself becoming a creative powerhouse of ideas.

Quantity, Quantity, and MORE Quantity
Focus on quantity NOT quality. The wider the net you cast in terms of possible creative invention ideas, the better your chances will be that you will come up with a great new invention idea.

Challenge the Norm
So you want to be creative? Challenge the norm. Focus on ways of completing a task that are totally opposite from how everyone else performs them. If the solution is obvious, then you aren’t thinking creatively enough. Remember, your creative solution doesn’t have to be right or perfect, but it does have to be different. Be provocative!

Get with a Group
Get with a group composed of other inventive people like you. Each person in the group then throws out a single word (it can be an adjective or a noun). Then in a round robin fashion, each member of the group has a set time limit to define as many creative invention ideas based upon the original set of words, as possible. Set a time limit and make it a competition. The person that comes up with the most creative ideas for the original concept out of the group wins a prize. If you don’t have a lot of inventive friends you can also make use of “random phrase generators” out on the internet. One that we like to use is watchout4snakes.com.

Look to Quotes for Inspiration
So you feel like your creative juices have all dried up. If you want some inspiration and motivation do a search for creative quotes on the internet. We like brainyquote.com.  While writing this article we found a great one by Albert Einstein:

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

Creative Accidents
We all know of the 3M inventor that tried to create a stronger glue but managed to come up with an extremely weak version instead. At first, he thought that he was a failure but the glue was perfect for one of 3M’s best selling products, Post-It notes. The left brain thinkers out there term these kinds of invention ideas as “creative accidents”. Next time you come up with a creative invention idea that you think is a failure stop and ask yourself, “Have I really failed”?

Make the Familiar Strange
Remember McGyver? He’s the guy that could build all sorts of things out of paperclips, hair spray, duct tape, and a Swiss Army knife in order to get himself out of all sorts of trouble. Well, if you want to come up with more creative invention ideas then you need to start thinking like McGyver. Take a bunch of random objects that you have in your house and figure out ways to make something useful out of them. As inventors, we often think in a stereotypical fashion where there is only one possible use for a specific product or item. If you want to come up with truly creative invention ideas then you need to start thinking outside of the box.

Summary
So you have read all these suggestions on how to come up with creative invention ideas. That’s great but are you going to just sit there and keep moping that you’ll never come up with the next great invention idea? Our hopes are that you pick one of these techniques RIGHT NOW and immediately put it into practice. What are you waiting for? Get going!

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Look to Rituals if You are Lacking Invention Ideas

As inventor’s, not only do we fail to understand rituals but we also undervalue the significance of rituals. When we find ourselves stumped for invention ideas we should look at rituals as a means to enhance our creativity and our innovation capacity.

Set a Time Limit
Set a timer. When you set a time limit, your mind will understand that you have set a definitive start and stop time. Having a definitive stop time is crucial for maintaining motivation when your invention ideas decide to remain hidden. However, on those great days when invention ideas are flowing, you can simply disregard your timer and continue on with the process of inventing.

Set Aside a Specific Time of the Day to be Creative
If you are a busy mom, the only time during the day that you have a few minutes of peace and quiet are usually early in the morning before the kids get up and late at night when you put the kids to bed.  Use this time wisely to generate invention ideas.  Keep in mind that you will also need to be consistent as to when you will be inventive.  Otherwise, there will always be other less productive activities that will fill this time.  Remember, when your brain is unencumbered by anything else, you may find that your ability to generate brilliant invention ideas improves.

Get Calm
Take a few deep breaths before you start your invention idea generation session. Clear you mind of distracting thoughts to the best of your ability. If you are thinking about that driver that cut you off on your way to work rather than focusing on the process of being creative, it may lead to some less than ideal invention ideas.

Find a Quiet Area
Whether it is in your office, man cave, garden, or wherever, set aside an area that you can be free from distractions and dream. We often need to deprive ourselves from the distracting technology around us (cell phones, voice mail, emails, etc.) in order to create this quiet atmosphere. Remember, the purpose of the time that you have set aside is to develop invention ideas.

Don’t Get Discouraged
So you set aside some time in your busy day for your invention idea ritual but you still can’t seem to come up with any worthwhile ideas. Now what do you do? The great thing about rituals is that everyone does them. Innovation and invention ideas can come from reevaluating how people perform their daily established rituals.

Examine Tools Used in Rituals for Inspiration and Opportunities
Take for example the often daily ritual of shaving. For most of us, it is a pain and requires concentration in order to avoid getting any nasty nicks or cuts. Shaving also constantly takes time out of our busy days to perform. Savvy inventors have looked at the ritual of shaving for years and have come up with some pretty nifty inventions. Some of these inventions have included:

• Shaving foams rather than powders
• Multiple blades in a razor instead of a single blade
• Disposable razors
• Electric razors

The great thing about inventing for rituals is that no matter how the tools (think ‘inventions’) have changed, the process of performing the ritual (think ‘shaving’) has still remained.

Rituals are Hard to Change
Despite the fact that tools in a ritual have often changed, chances are, that the ritual may still remain. Take for example the Bayer corporation back in the 1980s. Bayer invented a brand new protective coating for their aspirin tablets. Prior to this invention, cotton balls were packed in aspirin bottles to keep the pills from breaking. However, with the invention of the new protective coating, cotton was no longer required. Unfortunately, it took nearly two decades, that’s right, TWO decades, before the cotton balls were removed from Bayer aspirin bottles. Why? Because customers erroneously believed that the cotton balls were keeping the aspirin potent while soaking up any moisture that might cause unnecessary damage to the pills. Both of these myths were false. The mere removal of the cotton balls from the aspirin container had become an unproductive ritual. What does this mean for inventors? Simple, that rituals typically don’t die but they do get reinvented.

Summary

• You don’t need hours set aside to come up with a great invention idea but mere minutes. However, you need to make these minutes count by setting aside a time slot every day (or week) to think creatively in order to maintain consistency.
• Find a calm and quiet place without distractions to focus on creating ideas.
• Don’t get discouraged. Coming up with great invention ideas requires a ritual use of dedication and consistency.
• Look at current products that are being used in rituals (such as shaving or brushing your teeth) for inspiring invention ideas.
• Rituals are hard to overcome. Once you get into the habit of setting aside time in your busy day to just think about invention ideas, the harder it will be to break away from this potentially rewarding ritual.

What are you waiting for?  Go out there and incorporate rituals to find that next money making invention idea!

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• Creative Invention Ideas

In our previous post “How to Get Invention Money”, we talked about using Kickstarter.com to help get the invention funding that you need to turn your invention idea into a reality.  Continuing on with this theme, we will be talking about ways to improve your odds of success when it comes to creating an awesome Kickstarter campaign.  In addition, we will also be talking about what to do should you not meet your invention funding goals in the allotted amount of time.

Like everything in life, there is no guarantee of success when it comes to a Kickstarter project.  In fact, Kickstarter.com might actually turn down your project before it can even be presented to the Kickstarter community.  However, below are a few tips of things that you can do right now to improve your chances of getting funding for your ideas.

Ways to improve your odds of success

Prototype Needed
You’ll probably want to have some sort of prototype on hand that you can pull out to demonstrate your invention idea to the masses.  Now, if your goal is to get enough invention funding to build a prototype first before you put your invention idea into production then you might be able to get by with a Computer Added Design simulation instead.

Are you Crystal Clear
Do you understand exactly what it is you want your invention idea to accomplish?  Chances are you don’t want to back yourself into a corner by defining your invention idea as the Swiss army knife of inventions.  Therefore, you need to figure out the scope of your project.  This might mean that you cut out some of the ‘would like to have’ features and only concentrate on the ‘must have’ features.

Show Me the Cash
What is the amount of invention money that you truly need to be successful on your project?  Figure out ways to cut costs now.  Ask yourself if you really need to spend several thousand dollars on a specific software package when a free open source version can do the same thing.  Putting down a number that is too large may scare away potential investors which could result in your invention funding campaign being a failure.  On the other hand, don’t short yourself on the capital that you need in order to be successful.  After all you avoided your rich Uncle, the bank’s loan officer, and the wily venture capitalist for the freedom that Kickstarter offers you in the first place.

Drop Dead Funding Date
The other variable you must clearly define is the length of time you will allocate in order to reach your invention funding goals.  Have you ever heard of the ‘student syndrome’?  Give people too much time and they will wait until the very last minute or, perhaps, never to do what they need to do.  What you need donors to do is to fund your invention idea.  Therefore, set a realistic deadline.  By the way, most successful campaigns set a date of less than 30 days to reach their funding goals.

Point of No Return
Once you set an invention funding requirement and a specified time limit, you won’t be able to change either of these values once your project goes live.  Therefore, you should really spend the time to figure out what these two values should be ahead of time.

What’s in it for Me?
Throwing the fact that your product will likely you make money as a reason to invest in your project isn’t good enough.  People want to know what’s in it for them.  Not everyone wants a coffee mug or a T-shirt. If you expect more money for higher donation levels, then your rewards should be matched accordingly.  Take time to seriously think about what products or incentives you can potentially offer donors.

Get Some Real Fans
The successful Kickstarter projects often have a huge social network and fan base already well established.  This is probably a no-brainer for most of you but make sure that you have a Facebook page and Twitter profile already setup up.  Hopefully, you will also have your own business website set up, as well.  Makes sure that you spend time with your social network getting them excited about your upcoming Kickstarter campaign.

By the way, there is a Facebook like button underneath each project video in Kickstarter.  If a community member clicks this button, a link to your video on Kickstarter will show up on their Facebook wall.  Therefore, it’s a good idea to really spend the time creating a quality video that has the potential to go viral for your Kickstarter campaign.

Who Are You?
If you don’t bother creating a website for you invention idea which clearly displays various ways to contact you then don’t expect to get any calls from potential manufacturers, distributors, or fans.  Chances are if your invention idea is good, people will contact you.

What’s in a Name?

What’s the first thing that people see when it comes to a Kickstarter campaign?  Why, the title of your project, of course.  Therefore, it is extremely important that it is clear, concise, descriptive, and it drives people to take action.

The Proper Way to Show and Tell

The second most important component of any successful Kickstarter project is the video.

Show me the Money!  Please…
Explain exactly what you need the invention money for.  Please come up with a better line than, “I am a starving inventor that has a brilliant idea”.  Remember, your audience isn’t stupid, they realize that they are helping to fund your invention idea because you think you can make money off of it.

Get Personal
Get personal with your audience.  Don’t bother hiring someone else out there to talk about how passionate they are about YOUR idea.  People want to see who they are funding.  Potential donors want to also hear you relate your personal experiences to them.

Be believable
Show investors that you believe that your product can do everything you say it can.

Are We Having Fun Yet?
If you don’t think that you will have fun turning your invention idea into an actual physical product then don’t even bother creating a Kickstarter campaign.  Your lack of enthusiasm will come through during your video and potential donors will simply look the other way.

I’m a Genius Why Aren’t You?
Just because you have a mechanical engineering degree or happen to teach theoretical physics doesn’t necessarily mean that the people on Kickstarter will too.  Make sure that you present your project in a fashion that can be easily understood by the masses.

Take Time to Explain

In your video, you need to explain how Kickstarter works.  Just because people are visiting the website doesn’t necessarily mean that they will understand the concept of different donation tiers and that not meeting your funding goals within the time limit will result in zero funding dollars for you.

Think Local, Go Global

Have some extra capital dollars lying around?  Think local to go global.  By that, we mean taking some of that extra money and creating posters or advertisements.  Then start placing them in your local coffee shop, college billboard, or wherever to help drive traffic to your Kickstarter project.

You’re a Kickstarter Success

All right, so your Kickstarter project managed to get its funding approved within the designated time limit.  Congratulations!  Don’t get too excited though.  Chances are if you reach your funding level, there will be long nights ahead of you along with a lot more stress.

Hopefully, you completely understand your production costs and time commitments that will be required to produce your new invention.  At this point, you need to hope that your return on investment doesn’t turn out to be lower than you initially predicted.

You also need to start thinking of your donors as your customers.  These customers want to know about you, about your business, and about the development of your product so you better keep them in the loop.  A simple way to do this is to create a video blog diary every few days.  If you talk with a manufacturing company, put that in there.  When your product rolls off the assembly line, put that in there too.  Treat your donors well and they will be more likely to say great things about your product that they helped to create.

You’re a Kickstarter Failure

Okay, so you didn’t make your goal in the time limit.  By now, you are probably thoroughly upset with yourself, your idea, and those ignorant people that decided NOT to fund your idea.  What you really should be doing is looking on the bright side.

Free Feedback
Chances are, at least one person out there commented on your idea.  Who knows, these people might have actually included what they liked about your idea and what you can improve upon.  The great thing is that this feedback didn’t cost you a penny.  A similar customer feedback marketing research campaign might have cost you a ton of money.

Free publicity
There are lots of Kickstarter community members out there.  Chances are that some of these people watched your project video.   Who knows, maybe even some of these people are now following you on Facebook and Twitter.  Either way, you win.

A Time for Reflection
Take time to think about what you might do better next time.  Ask yourself some questions:

• Did I ask for too much money?
• Did I lack excitement, energy, and passion about my idea in my project video?
• Was my project scope so large that potential donors didn’t believe that my idea was actually feasible?
• Did the rewards that I offered to donors to fund my idea suck?
• Did my video explain clearly what my project was all about?

Either way, regardless of whether your Kickstarter project was a success or not, as an inventor you can walk away with a host of benefits without having to spend any money.  I ask you, “Where else will you have an opportunity like this when it comes to your invention idea”?

Now go out and create a Kickstarter project!  What do you have to lose?

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• How to Get Invention Money

How many times while sitting at work, watching TV, or lounging around in your favorite coffee shop have you thought about your invention idea? Maybe you even told yourself, “If I could only get that small amount of invention money, I could turn my invention idea into a reality”. Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems with the standard ways of trying to get funding for your ideas.

The Rich Uncle
You try to hit up your relatives again for your invention money. It wasn’t your fault that your first two invention ideas failed miserably. Unfortunately, your rich Uncle who provided several thousand dollars in invention funding for these two previous projects wants nothing more to do with you. The rest of your relatives tell you that you will never have a successful idea. But you’re not discouraged and decide to travel to your local bank to see about getting a loan.

The Local Bank
Sure, you know that the economy is in rough shape right now but you are confident that the loan officer at your favorite bank will fall in love with your invention idea. After you pitch your idea, the loan officer stares blankly at your face while she stamps a giant red DENIED across the top of your loan application – There goes your invention funding.

Venture Capitalists
Your hopes are still high and you decide to reach out to several venture capitalists in the area. These venture capitalists smile at you with perfect teeth and tell you that before they will give any invention money that you provide them with:

• A significant portion of your royalties OR
• A majority stake in your business OR
• Require that you make significant modifications to your invention idea design first OR
• Require that any changes that you propose to your design go through a design committee where they must be approved.

By now, you are totally and completely discouraged. Why would you ever want to let someone else take control of your invention idea? Is there any place that will provide funding for ideas that can be turned into profitable inventions?

Relax, all is not lost.

Get your Invention Funding through Kickstarter.com

Kickstarter.com is composed of:

• Inventors, artists, or authors that are looking to get funding for their various projects.
• A diverse community of individuals that want to donate their hard earned money to help support these projects.

From an inventor, artist, or author standpoint, you put out a description of your project (typically via a video), define how much invention money you are seeking, and define a time limit in terms of when you want to receive your funding by.

All dollars pledged by donators are held in escrow by Amazon.com. With Kickstarter, it’s an ‘all-or-nothing’ system. Either you reach your required level of funding within your assigned time limit or you don’t.

If you meet your funding and time requirements then Amazon will release the funds to you. You can then spend this money in any fashion you wish to try and turn your invention idea into a reality. On the other hand, if you fail to reach your invention funding goals within the time limit, the individuals that pledged money to your project are NEVER charged.  Therefore, you receive nothing.

Tiered System of Rewards Based Upon Donation Amounts
Although rewards based upon donation levels are not required, it’s generally a good idea to implement them if you want to have a successful Kickstarter funding campaign. There has to be some hook for potential investors to want to give you their hard earned dollars other than, “because it will give you a great satisfaction in knowing that you have helped me out”.

You’ll need to provide various levels of rewards based upon the amount donated. Kickstarter refers to these hooks as a “tiered system of rewards”. Get creative with the various rewards that you come up with. No one wants to receive another T-shirt or a coffee mug printed with a stupid company slogan. If you can’t come up with anything novel, look at some of the videos from other successful Kickstarter projects that managed to meet their funding levels. Remember, imitation is the greatest form of flattery (it’s also the most profitable, as well).

Oh, one other important point for those of you that managed to reach your target invention funding requirements in the allotted time limit: If you promised your backers that you would mail them something (i.e., T-shirt, coffee mug, a book, whatever) realize that you will need to pay shipping and handling for all of these items. Don’t forget that there will also be a significant time commitment required on your part to box and ship these rewards. Therefore, think ahead of time for rewards that can be sent electronically rather than requiring a physical product, if possible.

Other Great Reasons to Use Kickstarter for your Funding Needs

You Don’t Need a Business Plan
I don’t know about you but the majority of inventors out there don’t have a business degree. Not only that, but most inventors don’t know the first thing about writing a proper business plan. Although business plans are generally a good idea to have, Kickstarter does not require one for your project.

A Visit from a Potential Manufacturer
Not all of Kickstarter’s community members are people just like you. There have been several cases where product manufacturers have been lurking in the background and sniffing around successful funding campaigns. Who knows, maybe your product is exactly what they have been looking to manufacture?

Zero Travel Required to Get Funding
So you talked with your relatives to try and getting funding, you drove to various nearby banks to get a loan, you maybe even traveled across the country in order to pitch your ideas in front of venture capitalists. Who knows how much time, effort, and money these trips sucked up? However, Kickstarter campaign requires ZERO travel.

Market Research Campaigns are Awfully Expensive
How many times have you wondered if there would be any consumer interest in your invention idea to begin with regardless of whether you can turn a profit or not? The Kickstarter community is composed of a host of potential consumers. Listen to what they have to say. Hopefully, these community members will praise your idea. However, if they provide you with a host of tips or potential redesigns, don’t get discouraged. Consider this sort of feedback as FREE market research.

Services that Kickstarter Does Not Provide

Kickstarter does not supply:

• Legal advice
• Supply manufacturing contacts
• Business advice
• Contracts of any form
• Marketing advice
• Financial advice

Requirements to Put your Project on Kickstarter.com

There are a few requirements that you need to be aware of in order to participate in a Kickstarter project so please pay attention here to find out if you are qualified:

• You must be a permanent US resident. Our apologies to our non United States readers.
• Have a social security number
• Be at least 18 years old
• Have a bank account in the U.S.
• Have a U.S. address
• Have a U.S. issued form of ID
• Have a major debit or credit card.

Help Center

If you need more information visit Kickstarter’s Help Center.

In Our Next Post

Click HERE to find out more in-depth ways to improve your odds of success for a Kickstarter project.  In this post, we also talk about ways of staying positive if your Kickstarter campaign fails to generate the required invention funding amounts in the defined time limit.

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How to Tell if you are Dealing with an Invention Company Scam

Welcome to our second post on invention scams. In this post, we will learn about some of the more common warning signs of invention scams. As we described in our Invention Company Scams – How They Work post, there are plenty of companies out there that are ready to prey on your passion to make your invention idea a profitable reality. The more you know, the better your chances you won’t be a victim of these sorts of companies.

Risk? What risk?
Invention ideas are inherently risky. Not to let the air out of your sails but most inventions fail to make any money. If you stumble across a company that is willing to invest in your idea but fails to mention that doing so is a risky endeavor, you should probably turn around and run the other way.

We have so many success stories that we can’t possibly list them all
The invention company boasts that it has had hundreds or even thousands of success stories but they fail to provide any specific details. If you ask these invention scam companies for a list of successful clients and their contact information but they balk, chances are it’s a scam. Why? Because the very few true invention companies out there want inventors just like you to know how successful they really are and will likely bend over backwards trying to prove it to you.

Patent now before someone steals your idea
Before the America Invents Act patent reform laws were enacted, this probably wasn’t that big of a deal. However, the new patent laws focus on the first to file a patent rather than the first to invent an invention idea. It’s probably a good idea to speak with a patent attorney to find out if and how you should patent your idea now with the changes in the law. In the meantime, you should also realize that just because you decide to patent your idea doesn’t mean that you will make any money off of it. Any company that states otherwise, is bound to be an invention scam.

You’ve invented the better mousetrap
“Your idea is amazing and our panel of trained professionals including engineers, patent attorneys, and market researchers have all concluded there there is nothing like it on the market!” If you hear this line, don’t buy it. To begin with, it is highly doubtful that the invention company is a silver bullet for all of your invention idea needs. Second, if they are employing an army of highly trained professionals then how are they paying them all? Third, just because your idea was evaluated doesn’t mean that it will be successful if it ever gets to market.

Show me the money!
The salesman from the invention company has just told you that there is nothing like your idea on the market today. He then turns around and asks you for several hundred dollars before they can do a more detailed market analysis. Chances are if your idea is a sure thing but the invention company asks you for more money, then you have every right to be skeptical. By the way, if you get a detailed market analysis back from the company without having to pay anything but it shows amazing potential sales and profits don’t believe that either. Most reputable invention companies that perform a market analysis will likely show you profits in the low range and costs in the high range for your invention idea.

Can I get that in writing?
The invention company has told you a ton of amazing things but when you ask for all of those great things in writing signed by a company official, you get nothing but silence. If this is the case, you are probably dealing with an invention company scam. Even if you do get the materials in writing be sure to look over them carefully. What you are being told by the invention company may not match up with what you have received in writing.

No one’s home
Whenever you try and call the invention company directly you are always directed to a voicemail box, then you you are probably dealing with an invention scam. A vast majority of invention scam companies don’t have a physical address or may not even be an established company in the first place.

Don’t worry, we have a guarantee!
If you hear things like, “We guarantee that your idea will be a success” or “We guarantee that your patent application will be approved or your money back”, it’s a scam. No one can guarantee that your idea will be a success and only the U.S. Patent Office can determine whether your patent will be granted or not. Considering that the vast majority of patent applications are rejected by the U.S. Patent Office, you can be assured that you are dealing with an invention scam.

Hopefully, these warning signs of invention company scams will keep you from being a victim. In our next post, we’ll be talking about what is required to perform your due diligence on invention companies so that you can separate the charlatans from real deal.

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