With the energy crisis and the worldwide push to “go green”, innovation in the automotive sector is at an all time high. This puts automotive patent holders in a prime position to sell or license their patent. However, it would behoove you to do some research on how automotive patents are typically capitalized on, as well as who would be most likely to buy or license said patents.

Most of the action in the automotive industry takes place in Michigan, specifically Detroit, or “Motown.” A recent article called “Auto Industry Fueling Growth in Michigan’s Patent Applications” describes the recent surge in auto innovation there:

“The auto industry may be bleeding money throughout Michigan, but it is fueling a rise in innovation in the state, federal data on patent activity shows.

The state saw a 20 percent rise in the numbers of patents granted between 2000 and 2006, the years for which the most recent data is available, compared with the seven-year 1993-1999 period, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.”

SRC: http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/03/auto_industry_fueling_growth_i.html

 However, a number of auto leaders do business internationally as well. Wikipedia offers a handy chart that breaks down, by volume, the largest auto makers and their divisions and subsidiary companies. The table is based on the most recent OICA data.

SRC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry#World.27s_largest_vehicle_manufacturing_groups_.28by_volume.29

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are the largest players in the United States market, in that order. Under the GM flag are brands like Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab. Ford encompasses Lincoln, Mercury, and Volvo, while Chrysler markets the Dodge and Jeep line of trucks and SUVs. The divisions of each auto maker should inform your decision on who to contact about selling your patent.

If your patent pertains to low-mid range sedans or gigantic SUVs, you might look to score a meeting with someone from GM. If your patent applies to luxury models like the Lincoln Towncar, a call to Ford might be best. And if your invention would be best utilized in a heavy-lifting work vehicle like a Dodge Ram or Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler is probably the ideal networking target. Of course, there are several other auto makers worth considering who operate outside of the U.S., but it often helps to start closer to home.

 It is also worth noting that many automakers own stock in and have business partnerships with other automakers. This means that even if you fail to sell or license your patent to one automaker, they might be able to put you in touch with one that would be more amenable to your proposal. Here is a quick reference of ownership overlap within the automotive industry.

• Porsche holds a 20% stake in the Volkswagen Group (30.97% voting rights), as of 2006-12-31.
• The Renault-Nissan alliance involves two global companies linked by cross-shareholding, with Renault holding 44.3% of Nissan shares, and Nissan holding 15% of Renault shares.
• Ford holds an 33.9% stake in Mazda. and an 8.3% share in Aston Martin.
• Hyundai Motor Co. holds a 38.67% stake in Kia Motors.
• Daimler AG holds an 19.9% stake in Chrysler Holding LLC.
• General Motors still holds a 3% stake in Suzuki. Suzuki is also partner with GM in GMDAT and CAMI.
• Toyota holds 51% stake Daihatsu hence having a controlling interest in the company.

However, not every automotive patent holder should necessarily target auto makers. Instead, some patents are probably more attractive to auto dealers, of which there are tens of thousands across the United States. If you are unsure of which auto dealer to contact or how to get in touch with them, the National Automobile Dealer Association is a good place to start. They are an automotive industry trade group that represents some 20,000 dealerships across the U.S. and boasts some 43,000 worldwide franchises. They also develop comprehensive research data on the auto industry, which might be of use to you in putting your pitch together.

You can contact the NADA by phone, e-mail, or snail mail.

National Automobile Dealers Association
8400 Westpark Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102
(703) 821-7000 or (800) 252-6232
nadainfo@nada.org

Of course, you will want to consult a patent attorney before diving headlong into negotiations. Furthermore, this attorney should be one with experience and success in the auto sector. One proven winner in this field is Quinn Law Group, PLLC. “Auto Industry Fueling Growth…” discusses the track record and auto industry connections Quinn has at its disposal:

Principal Christopher Quinn said patent applications in areas such as hybrid technology, vehicle safety and electronics are helping drive annual revenue increases of 20 percent or more. The 19-member firm works with customers including General Motors Corp. and suppliers, as well as with out-of-state companies, many with Michigan offices, whose patents wouldn’t necessarily show up in USPTO data, he said.

 Quinn can be contacted at the following web URL:

http://www.quinnlawgroup.com/contact.htm

All in all, your quest to sell or license an auto patent should begin with a careful matching of your patent to the right auto maker, and end with the assistance of a proven attorney in the field.

 Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property.  The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

With all the false starts that come with inventing something, it is easy to feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of inventing: like you get “no respect” from credible figures in your field. If investors are turning you down, business partners are flaking out, and you can’t even seem to get your calls returned, it may be time for a change of priorities. Believe it or not, there is actually a tried-and-true formula for establishing yourself as a respected inventor. It begins be creating credibility for your invention.

 Priority # 1 – Creating a Prototype

 If anything separates players from spectators, it is this. Having a prototype – a real, working version of your invention – says unequivocally that you are for real and have serious intentions of entering your field. It takes your idea from, as Entreprenuer.com says, “your mind’s eye to the palm of your hand.”

Their article on prototyping offers some helpful guidance on how to approach the process:

“So what exactly should a prototype look like? First, it depends on your idea. Second, it depends on your budget and your goals. If possible, it’s great to start with a handmade prototype, no matter how rudimentary. For example, I’ve seen prototypes made from the simplest of household items: socks, diaper tabs, household glue, empty milk containers–you name it. If it works for your initial demonstration purposes, it’s as good as the most expensive materials.”

SRC: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/inventing/inventionscolumnisttamaramonosoff/article80678.html

The number one thing to keep in mind is getting your prototype to solve the problem it aims to. Early on, it is not important whether it looks glamorous. It does not need to exactly mirror the ultimate vision you have for it. Get something up and running – something that works – and you will have taken a bold and important step toward gaining credibility for your invention.

 Priority # 2 – Secure a patent for your invention.

 Once you have a working prototype, you should file a provisional patent application for your invention. This will protect any new formulas, equations, processes, technologies, or methods you employed in creating your invention. Having patent protection is an invaluable asset in establishing your credibility.

 For one, it enables you to approach retailers or business partners with a tangible asset. Not only do you have a working invention, but you also have the exclusive, legal right to commercialize it. This portrays you as a legitimate player with something to bring to the bargaining table.

In addition, a patent gives you some peace of mind that a sleazy ripoff artist can’t clone your operation overnight. It won’t stop all of them from trying, but it will give you the right to sue them for damages and legally compel them to stop.

Above all, being a patent holder puts you in a position to capitalize on your invention by conferring on you the status and rights you have earned.

Priority # 3 – Set some initial sales targets – and meet them!

 This step is where the rubber meets the road: that fateful day when the market decides whether your invention will fly. It is a day inventors anticipate with both excitement and fear; excitement driven by hope of success, and fear driven by worries about what could go wrong. However, you can increase your odds of hitting your sales goals with some rational planning and foresight.

 The first thing to do is some market research. You cannot just concoct sales goals on a whim, based on fantasies of what you would like to earn. Instead, you must research the market and determine what similar companies have sold. While this in and of itself does not determine your fate, it will give you a realistic idea of what to expect. Reliable sources of market research include industry trade journals, periodicals, and library/academic databases that include access to market data.

Another good step is to avoid overextending yourself. There is a temptation among many inventors to hit the market in a huge way. They want to get their product in as many stores as possible right up front. While the excitement is understandable, this is not always the smartest choice. A better idea is to start off by selling in one or two stores and use that to test the response. How did people respond to your invention? Were sales high? Are you maybe pricing your invention too high, or low? These questions are easier to answer on a small scale. There is an old piece of marketing advice that applies here: fail early, and fail cheap. If you can learn from mistakes at smaller stores, you can apply that wisdom and approach the bigger retailers with the most important thing of all – a track record.

 It would be dishonest to say that gaining credibility is easy. However, if you are diligent and smart in your approach, it is eminently possible. Don’t give up.

If you are the kind of person with a million ideas and not enough time to pursue them, you might want to consider “fast tracking” your invention to market. In this way, you essentially become a hired gun. You, the inventor, perform the tasks of researching and developing the product. Then, you “outsource” the manufacturing and marketing to partners with money. Those partners will develop, market, and fund the startup costs. In return for their greater efforts, they will receive a greater return. The benefit to you, however, is that this is one of the quickest ways to bring a product to market and exit with cash in hand. If you are a serial inventor, this can be a great way to build up some cash and move on from one idea to the next.

The best way to get the ball rolling is to find an angel investor, ie, a private person with personal wealth and the skills necessary to fast track your invention. INC.com has a comprehensive directory of angel investors. Using it, you can locate investors in specific areas, with specific skill sets, and find one that is sure to meet your fast-tracking needs.

Once you have found an investor, the next thing you will do is determine how profits will be split and who is responsible for what. Typically, you will be the one researching and creating the product in question. If it was your idea, this is only logical. You should make it your business to know the market inside and out and formulate a product that can be profitably sold in it. Then, you want to create a prototype for it. Since the extent of your responsibility is creating the product, it makes sense to do this as quickly as possible. Then, responsibility shifts to the investor to put up the funds and get the product to market.

In his landmark text “The Time Trap”, Alec Mackenzie stresses that the single most effective way to get more done in less time is writing a list of things you are going to do that day. It sounds simple – and it is – but it takes a high level of discipline to actually put it into practice. Accordingly, this is an excellent way of ensuring that you develop your prototype as quickly as possible. Not a day should go by when you are not doing something to advance this goal.

When you finally do have your prototype ready, you should waste no time hitting the market. How can you do this? The best way is to use a tried and true formula: start with smaller stores, build a track record of success, and use this as leverage to get into bigger outlets. An article on BusinessKnowHow.com imparts a very specific strategy that you can use to get your product to market in a short period of time. Here is the course of action recommended:

“This is where reps come in. They have had to change their ways of working. It used to be that they would spend the majority of their time with the big chains. The little guys got whatever time was left over. In some cases, reps would use sub-reps to call on the little stores. Well, it ain’t that way today. Some big firms such as Wal-Mart say that due to their volume they don’t need the rep to call on them and they want the commission usually paid to the rep for themselves. That means that reps have to look for other ways to make money. They do this by two methods: One, call on smaller retailers and call on them more often; two, take on lines that the smaller retailers are looking for. 

“So, as a supplier to the retail market, seek out the reps. Ask some stores that might be potential candidates for your line who they believe is the best rep that calls on them. Interview several reps, see what other lines they have that would cause them to call on the same type of firm you believe your goods could go into. They are your best bet for getting into all types of stores both large and small, that is their profession.”

For the best results, you can have your investor start working on this while you are creating your prototype. Optimally, you can do these tasks side-by-side, wasting as little time as possible and getting to launch as fast as you can. If this is not possible, you should at least begin this process as soon as the prototype is ready. When it comes to fast tracking, time is obviously of the essence.

Keep your objective in mind with the eye on the prize to compress time and shorten your time to market. 

If your invention is done, functional, and ready for sale, congratulations! You have reached a plateau that few inventors ever see with their own eyes – a finished product that is destined for store shelves. But now, it’s crunch time. You want to be in stores 30 days from now. What do you do to prepare? That is the focus of today’s article.

If you want to sell in stores, there is a rule you need to know front to back, inside and out: “Show me the inventory.” That is the mindset of buyers and managers at nearly any store worth selling in. A BeadingTimes.com article called “Selling to Stores” explores the issue further:

“Forget catalogs - store owners want to see the merchandise. Your sales will increase if you approach them with samples in your hands. Sales will increase even more if you have inventory to leave with them at that moment. While some stores will pay cash for their merchandise, most prefer terms of thirty days net.”

SRC: beadingtimes.com/marketing1203.htm

What this means in practical terms is that you had better have the capacity to create and store inventory. This is no small issue, and it should command your full attention if you are even thinking about getting into stores. Do you need to hire people to help you? Do you need to rent storage space to keep a certain number of units on hand? Do you have enough room in your house? (Make sure your wife and kids are on board before saying yes, it only creates problems later if you don’t!) The point is that keeping inventory will be a necessity for getting into (and staying in) stores. Do not approach the matter lightly.

Another consideration is that you probably cannot get your invention into huge, big-name department stores right away. An Entreprenuer.com article called “Selling Your Invention” explains the more likely reality:

“Unless you’re very lucky or very connected, you probably won’t launch your product directly into mass-market retail stores like Target or Wal-Mart. Instead, there’s a product sales lifecycle you should follow that basically takes you from the ground up, allowing you to build sales in a smart, methodical fashion, starting with small independent retailers and moving up to the big guns.”

Instead of staking everything on the ill-premised hope of “Wal-Mart or bust”, the article outlines a more reliable and time-tested approach to getting – and staying – into stores.

o Start by selling directly to end-users. This’ll give you confidence in selling and create “referenceable” customers. You can also get their feedback on the product and packaging to make improvements before expanding your sales efforts.

o Once you’ve ironed out your product and packaging wrinkles, begin selling to local independent specialty stores and online stores. For instance, if you’ve designed a line of greeting cards, approach your local gift shops. Become successful with these retailers, and you’ll have the leverage and negotiating chops to go on to the next level.

If you take this kind of approach, getting into stores within 30 days becomes a realistic goal. However, you must still make sure that the invention itself is prepared for the store environment. Primarily, this is a matter of packaging. This should not be overlooked either, because packaging can add both weight and cost to your product. If it weighs more, it is more expensive to ship. And if the packaging itself costs a lot of money, that gets added to your costs as well, making your break-even point higher.

For this reason, it makes sense to use as little packaging and excess as you can get away with. Early on, cash is king, and you cannot afford to squander it on grandiose packaging that does nothing but make your invention seem big and flashy.

If you have figured out the answers to your inventory questions, set realistic goals for your in-store launch, and square away the matter of your packaging; you are just about ready to get your invention into stores.

What remains is a solid and easy-to-use system of keeping records. Once you start selling in stores, you will encounter a whole new series of record keeping issues relating to taxes, receipts, inventory statements, sales records, and all kinds of other paperwork. Without a reliable way to keep track of all this, your life will be considerably more difficult.

Therefore, you should invest the time to create one before your invention hits the shelves. That way you establish habits of organization before things spiral out of control and leave you in a mess of random papers.

If you do not have the capacity to get your product store ready yourself, you may want to consider licensing or selling your patent to an entrepreneur, retailer, or manufacturer who does.

With all of these matters taken care of, you will be better positioned to push for store shelves. Remember the strategy: avoid big stores at first, and build your track record at smaller outlets. It is a recipe for success that has been tried and battle-tested.

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, the online marketplace for intellectual property that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

Some inventors make the mistake of pouring years of their lives and thousands of dollars into bad ideas. Maybe their idea was ill-formed and nobody actually wants it. Maybe they wasted years pursuing an idea that actually will not work the way they originally thought it would. Whatever the case may be, the end result is lots of wasted time and energy on a dead idea. By this point you are probably thinking, “There must be a better way!” Fortunately, there is. It is a bold, decisive strategy that is best summed up as “Kill your ideas quick.” What does this mean, exactly?

Basically, you want to expose your idea to as much critical scrutiny as you can, as early as you can. In this article, we will discuss two main ways of doing that. The first and easiest way is to collect feedback about your idea. Ask people questions like, “Would you buy this? What need would this fill for you? Can you think of any reason why you would not want to buy it or use it? What about your friends? Do other products do what my idea is going to do, better? How so?” The more detailed feedback you get, the better. However, merely collecting this feedback is just the starting point. What you want to do is implement the feedback you get into your prototype or working model. Doing this as quickly as possible will help you determine whether your idea is a winner or a bust. As you force yourself to actually create it rather than endlessly theorize, you will discover whether it is too expensive or too big or too hard or impossible.

Of course, the best scenario would be if you know someone in your field that you trust and can ask for advice. They above all people will have a good sense of whether your idea is unrealistic or not. The feedback they provide will also be immensely valuable, especially if your idea doesn’t need to be killed.

Another way to kill your idea fast was pioneered by Internet advertising guru Perry Marshall. He advocates using the cheap, fast-response ad medium of Google AdWords to test public interest in your idea before diving headlong into pursuing it. Perry describes the nuts and bolts of his approach in his free e-course on Google AdWords:

“Let’s say you’ve got a product idea. The product itself costs $50,000 to develop, and you’re sure it’s a good idea because it solves a really thorny problem.

So here’s what you do: You write a report, e-book or white paper about how to solve that problem. You create an opt-in page where people can get your report in exchange for their contact information.

Then you buy keywords, send people to that page and see how many people you can get to opt in.

That alone will tell you something.

And if you absolutely cannot get anybody to opt-in to your report - or if you can’t find keywords that anyone is searching for - then that’s a good sign you should abandon the project before you throw any more money at it.”

SRC: http://www.perrymarshall.com/google/day4.htm

Perry’s point is that you can use an inexpensive testing medium to see if your idea is a winner. At the very least, you will be positioned to proceed on the basis of actual knowledge instead of wishful thinking. Perry continues:

“Not only will this process validate that you’re solving a worthwhile problem; it will also fine tune your efforts so that you’re dealing with the real problems that real people have!

It’s worth repeating: after testing your concept on Google AdWords, you’ll never throw good money at a lousy product idea. And when you need assistance or investment money, you’ll have proof that people are looking for what you have to sell.”

Perry’s method can be applied to virtually any invention relating to something that people would look for on a search engine. Best of all, it does not need to be expensive. If you can spare a few hundred dollars, you will get real-time market research from people who are actively looking for what you are making. What could be more valuable than that? And like Perry says: if no one likes your idea, it is probably a dud and at least you know for sure.

Whichever method you choose, killing your ideas quick is sound practice. It is also a bold step away from the “Inventor Baby” mentality who seeks to protect his idea from harsh contact with the real world and its desires. You will be facing reality as it actually is. You will not spin your wheels on ideas that are doomed to fail. And most importantly, this will free up your precious time and energy for more fruitful projects.

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, the online marketplace for intellectual property that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

All inventors have, at one time or another, pined for “the right people.” Be they investors, programmers, distributors, writers, architects, butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers, personnel is a crucial ingredient to the success of any invention. But getting the right people behind your invention is a road more easily mapped than traveled. In this article, we’ll walk you through finding and keeping the personnel you need to make your invention a hit. The task can essentially be divided into two categories: investors, and everybody else.

Investors (and how big a slice of future profits to give up for any personnel)

Some inventors are so desperate for investment capital or key personnel that they offer irrationally high percentages of future profits for those people to come aboard. In addition to advertising your desperation, this is a mistake for standard business reasons. John T. Reed, Harvard Business School graduate and real estate guru, explains why:

“At Harvard Business School, one of the lessons we learned was that one’s cost of capital was an indication of one’s competence as a businessperson. To put it briefly, if you are paying 50% interest or 50% of your profits to your silent partners, you are an incompetent businessman. Some successful investors would protest that was how they got their start. I don’t doubt it. I know some of them. But it was still a dumb move and the investors in question are lucky such terms did not blow up in their face and ruin their reputations before they got started.”

If you are a competent, accomplished person in your area of expertise, you should not be giving up half of your future profits for an investor to fund you. The same goes for other personnel you need. Unfortunately, many naïve or beginning inventors fall into this trap because they lack startup capital or believe they must do whatever it takes to attract X person to their operation.

Instead, use a different approach. The best route is normally to forgo outside investors altogether and bootstrap your invention with savings or small loans from friends or relatives. However, if this cannot be done, you should approach investors after you have a proof-of-concept of your invention. If at all possible, you should try to get some cash flow going before seeking outside capital. Try to drum up some kind of sales or progress with whatever you have accomplished so far. The website AntiVentureCapital.com explains why this helps you to attract investors later:

Pretend for a moment that you are a venture capitalist or angel investor. Two founders visit you about separate deals. You ask them each what progress they have made in the 3 or 6 months that they have been working on their respective projects.

* One entrepreneur answers that he has been able to finish his business plan as well as find a means to generate cashflow which is being used to move the main project further along. Now he needs more money to fully capitalize on this developing opportunity.

* The other entrepreneur can only point to the “great” business plan he’s polished to perfection over the past 6 months and the “great” opportunity lying before him.

Which entrepreneur would you be more impressed by if you were the investor?

This demonstrates that you have something tangible. It also lets you keep your dignity when negotiating terms rather than begging them to accept half of your future profits.

Professionals with special skill sets

Of course, inventors don’t just need money to get their invention off the ground. They also need people with certain special skills to create the invention in the first place. So how do you bring such people into the fold?

The most common response is to promise the personnel in question a share of future profits. While this is acceptable practice (as long as it is not an egregiously high amount as discussed earlier), it is not the most effective way, either. The most effective way to get the right people behind your invention is to pay them to help you.

Not the answer you were looking for? Well, look at it from a realistic standpoint. Pretend that you are an experienced professional with a valuable skill. (If you are inventing things, you probably are such a person.) Now pretend that someone you don’t know is asking you to work on a project you’ve never heard of. That by itself is probably enough to make you a little uncertain. But then, to top it all off, they ask you to work for free, with no base pay, on the hopes that it someday pays off and you can collect when it does. At this point, your well-honed skepticism should kick in and dissuade you from doing the deal. Your time is simply too valuable.

However, imagine a different scenario. The inventor explains his idea to you in a way that sounds persuasive and enticing, and also offers to pay you! It might not be a huge amount, or even what you could get at a salaried job someplace else. But the sheer fact that you will be compensated for your labor will, naturally, make you more confident about the project and being a part of it. When a person sees someone put his own sweat, blood, and tears into something, it just feels easier to trust them.

Therefore, you should either save some money or use a small loan from friends or family to pay the personnel you want. Of course, you can still sweeten the deal by promising them future equity in addition to their base.

When you have some money saved up, it is time to place ads for the personnel you need. The industry you are in will dictate exactly how to go about doing this. If you are creating a new kind of garden hose, for example, you might want to advertise for engineers in a lawn and garden trade journal or magazine. You might try help-wanted ads in the paper, or even Internet resources like Craigslist.com

The idea is to offer something of tangible value to the people you want. This will go a long way toward getting the right people behind your invention.

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, the online marketplace for intellectual property that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

Every inventor knows that it’s a mistake to go around bragging about your idea to everyone who will listen. Careless mistakes should obviously be avoided. However, there is another kind of inventor who commits just the opposite mistake, and suffers the same failure. That mistake is paranoia. It is an irrational, unfounded fear of everyone in his field that causes the inventor to clam up and wall everyone off. An excellent article called “Inventor Paranoia” profiles the problem as such:Many beginning inventors are obsessed with secrecy. They’re convinced their latest invention is their “best” — and that anyone who hears of it will certainly “steal” it. They then become so obsessed with “protecting” their invention as to virtually guarantee that they’ll never see a dime from it.

Hey, guys, you can’t “protect” an invention. You can seek to acquire certain intellectual property rights in the invention. e.g., with a patent. And if your solution to the problem is truly superior, and if it’s commercially viable, and if the rights you acquire are sufficiently “strong”, i.e., your intellectual property covers ALL economical ways of providing the intended user benefit — you MAY be able to sell or license those rights.

However, even if you do everything ‘right’ — by the book — there’s no guarantee you won’t get ripped off. If someone chooses to copy your invention — without acknowledging your rights — all you can do is sue them. And a typical infringement suit starts in the range of a quarter million dollars.

SRC: http://www.tenonline.org/art/9405.html

If this is the case, why are there any paranoid inventors? And what is so disastrous about being a paranoid inventor? To answer those questions, we must first understand what drives this paranoia in the first place.

Nine times out of ten, an overly paranoid inventor places an enormous value on “ideas.” Not even just on his particular idea, but on ideas as such. In his or her mind, the quality of an idea is the sole determinant of whether an invention succeeds or fails. Consequently, inventors who believe this are extremely overprotective of any ideas they might have. They view the entire professional community as potential adversaries who, if they happened to discover the idea, would immediately drop what they were doing to pursue it. While this can indeed happen, it is far from likely. The truth is that ideas in and of themselves are not nearly as important as execution and the personnel behind them. However, many naïve inventors continue to think that ideas are sacred assets to be jealously guarded against intruders.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Paul Graham clears up this misbegotten notion in his article “Ideas for Startups”

“They overvalue ideas. They think creating a startup is just a matter of implementing some fabulous initial idea. And since a successful startup is worth millions of dollars, a good idea is therefore a million dollar idea.

If coming up with an idea for a startup equals coming up with a million dollar idea, then of course it’s going to seem hard. Too hard to bother trying. Our instincts tell us something so valuable would not be just lying around for anyone to discover.

Actually, startup ideas are not million dollar ideas, and here’s an experiment you can try to prove it: just try to sell one. Nothing evolves faster than markets. The fact that there’s no market for startup ideas suggests there’s no demand. Which means, in the narrow sense of the word, that startup ideas are worthless.”

SRC: http://paulgraham.com/ideas.html

Invention ideas are somewhat different than ideas for startups, but the basic truth holds. If you never network with anyone or get your plans off the ground for fear of “your idea” being stolen, you are damning yourself to failure. You will turn away valuable networking opportunities. You will make it impossible to find the technical talent you need to create the invention. You might even turn down funding or buyout offers that would get your product to market faster or let you capitalize on all of your hard efforts. Clearly, this is not a smart or rational approach to inventing. So what is the solution?

The key is to abandon the fetish with protecting your idea. Instead, take reasonable steps to protect yourself and trust that you are smart and competent enough to get it to market. You cannot hire a database programmer, for example, if your refuse to tell him what his job is or what he’s doing. Therefore, you should have him sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement stating that anything you tell him is legally confidential. This gives you recourse against him if he spills your secrets, and more importantly, it gets you started in the invention process rather than stuck in analysis paralysis about what happens if someone steals your idea.

Risk is a part of invention because it is a part of life. The best you can do is take responsible actions to guard against worst-case scenarios and focus on getting to market as quickly as possible. Do not let paranoia prevent you from taking bold steps to succeed.

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, the online marketplace for intellectual property that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

While the swift cut-and-parry of creation is the heart of an inventor’s life, there is another important component – networking. Let’s face it; no matter how great your invention may be, you can always benefit from talented professionals in your field that might be willing to lend a hand. Maybe it’s that database programmer you’ve been scouring the earth for, or that distributor you need to get your product on store shelves, or a patent attorney to make sure your intellectual property is protected. Whatever the case may be, there are steps you can take to put yourself in the path of networking success. In this article, we will examine five of the most helpful. By applying these tips to your day-to-day efforts, you will increase your odds of meeting the people you need to move your invention forward.

1) Have a clean, approachable website.

The benefit of having a simple website to send people to cannot be stressed enough. Let’s say you are at a party or industry conference. Suddenly, you meet a new colleague and the two of you get to talking about your respective projects and goals. As the conversation comes to a close, the colleague asks you, “So, how can I stay abreast of what you’re up to, how can we keep in touch?” If you are networking-savvy inventor, you will reply, “Oh, no problem! My website is www.JohnDokes.com, it has all my contact information and what I’m working on. Check up on me there from time to time!”

This is extremely simple to do. Your website does not have to be flashy or fancy; a clean, black text on white background HTML layout will do just fine. As mentioned, your website should include your name, profession, hobbies, and areas of expertise, achievements, and maybe a periodical blurb about what things of importance you are working on at the time.

2) Print business cards and carry them at all times.

But what happens when you meet someone on the fly? There isn’t always time to scribble down web URLs or phone numbers, and lack of preparedness could kill an otherwise great networking contact. Fortunately, this does not have to befall you. The solution is a timeless standby of professionals everywhere: business cards! Simply visit your local Kinkos and print up 200 standard business cards with your name, e-mail address, mobile phone, and anything else you deem relevant. Then, make a point of carrying 5-10 of them in your wallet with you at all times. With business cards in tow, you will be able to capitalize on networking opportunities wherever you happen to be – on vacation, at restaurants or coffee shops, even in the grocery store. You truly never know when you will meet someone important.

3) Consider a separate phone line or wireless phone for professional purposes.

While not an absolute necessity, you need to consider how a potential contact or partner might perceive you. If they call your house line and hear lots of family commotion in the background, it might send the message that you are ill-prepared to take on a serious venture of any kind. Whether this is reasonable to infer or not, perception is reality for many people. Therefore, it might make sense to get a separate landline or wireless phone for your professional needs. You would then print this number on your website and business cards instead of your house phone. A wireless phone is best because you can carry it with you and never miss an important call. In addition to upholding your professionalism, doing this also helps you delineate between different areas of your life.

4) Follow leads wherever they may appear.

Anyone who has been in business for long knows that leads and opportunities can crop up almost anywhere, at any time. It is not uncommon for new business partners to meet on vacation, over dinner and drinks, or while playing golf at a country club. Therefore, you should keep this in the back of your mind and be ready to pounce on new opportunities as they arise. If you are out on the green with someone and you get to talking about your professions, there is no shame in “testing the waters” and seeing if he is interested in new projects. Do not assume that just because you aren’t in a business setting, you cannot pursue business leads. Truly successful inventors are creative and resourceful.

5) Use the direct approach whenever possible and appropriate.

Many people take a passive approach to life. Instead of acting to bring about some outcome, they simply hope it comes to be through osmosis. When it comes to networking, this attitude is a death sentence. If you want to meet the best people and bring them into the fold, you need to proactively seek them out. Let’s say you are in desperate need of a graphic designer, for instance. Throw up an ad on Rent-A-Coder that says you’re looking for one! Better yet, ask around your circle of friends and contacts to see if they know anyone with the skills you need. This is how networking happens. Of course, you should seek to establish some kind of relationship with a person before you just mine them for contacts. You wouldn’t want to bombard someone you just met. But by all means: once you are on good terms with someone, feel free to ask them who they know.

Apply these tips to your inventing and you will soon find that networking is not so difficult and it can make the difference between a successful invention and a failed one.

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, the online marketplace for intellectual property that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com.

The solution to the bitter war between environmentalists and the logging industry might have finally been realized with a creative innovation from Canada-based Triton Logging Inc. Their new underwater saw capitalizes on the 45,000 forgotten forests that have been drowned through the damming of reservoirs to produce hydroelectric power all over the world.The saw, aptly named the Sawfish, is the first fully submersible saw that can dive up to 1,000 feet underwater, making it a valuable resource in the harvest of about 300 million trees that were previously unreachable. According to a feature on the Sawfish on NBC’s “Today” show, the device provides a ‘green’ alternative for Triton Logging to avoid the many common problems that come along with deforestation in conventional logging. These problems include acceleration of soil erosion, disruption of animal habitats and clear cutting of trees that absorb the carbon dioxide fueling global warming.

Not only does the Sawfish provide an environmentally friendly alternative to on-land clear cutting and deforestation, it does not harm the lake in which it is used. It never touches the bottom of the lake or disturbs the soil. Additionally, according to a “Fox News” report, water readings taken before and after a harvesting project have shown no elevated levels of toxins. This is vital in proving the environmental integrity of the product and its true contributions to the industry.

While the Sawfish’s environmental merits are extremely important, its creative operational elements also deserve discussion. Triton uses maps to determine the location of underwater forests to which they will bring the unmanned Sawfish. The Sawfish is then tethered to a barge from which an operator maneuvers the device. The saw is equipped with eight cameras and SONAR technology that allow the operator to effectively locate target trees.

The actual process of collecting the trees is relatively straightforward. “The remote-controlled Sawfish clamps onto a tree with its five-foot-long pincers, attaches inflatable airbags, and chews through the trunk in seconds with a 54-inch blade,” said Popular Science magazine. The attached airbags pull the logs to the surface for easy retrieval.

A legitimate concern for many interested in purchasing and using this new timber is the quality of the wood itself. Many of these trees have been underwater for decades and one would assume that there must be some amount of damage or decay in this timber. The truth is, said the “Today” show, that the combination of cold water and little oxygen exposure actually acts as a preservative. Aside from increased drying time before cutting, there is little difference between this wood and conventional wood.

Because of the obvious environmental advantages of using this timber, there looks to be a significant market for it. Despite its higher cost, the benefits outweigh the price for many people. Many “green” builders will undoubtedly want to incorporate it into their building plans; ecologically aware consumers will definitely appreciate the use of salvaged wood in homes they purchase. According to The Wall Street Journal, the wood will also be marketed as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional wood at home-improvement stores for those wishing to use it on an individual basis. Concerned consumers will without doubt feel more comfortable using wood they know came from a “green” source.

The market for these 300 million sunken trees will certainly be a significant one, with early profit estimates at around $50 billion. This is a remarkable number considering that these trees were almost unrecoverable and lost forever.

The ideals of lumber companies and environmental groups have begun to mesh with this new innovation from Triton Logging. With the days upon us of increased interest and concern with global warming and the way we treat our planet, a compromise has to be made. We need to realize what is in the true best interests of society as a whole and think more seriously about where we can make compromises that are agreeable to everyone. The introduction of environmentally friendly technology like the Sawfish is critical in these compromises.

John Gerbich is the Staff Writer for IdeaBuyer.com, a marketplace for new technology and products that allows inventors to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. Visit the site by clicking here > Patents for Sale.