Product Development Blog » Invention Submission

What is the BIG IDEA GROUP?

Sam — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:53:16 +0000

Inventors, entrepreneurs, and new ventures are always looking for an exit strategy for their idea. Do I sell my company? Am I an IPO candidate in the future? While those questions for the fortunate few may be asked after several years of sustained, continuous growth – there are two import ‘exit’ questions, which face the new entrepreneur much earlier. The question is: do I make the product myself or license it? Many inventors and entrepreneurs dream of the easy out : “I have an idea, I’ll patent it, and license it. Simple.” Visions of beach vacations while collecting lucrative licensing fees dance in the entrepreneur’s head. However, the reality is much different. The likelihood of licensing a product or technology in the early stages of development is very small. Many spend copious amounts of money securing patents – ready to license, only to find no one is interested.

But, there is hope out there for the inventor, entrepreneur, and new venture. A company in New Hampshire has been helping people license their inventions to large, established firms. That company is the Big Idea Group, or BIG. BIG started in 2000 to bridge the innovation process between the inventor and the big firm looking to commercialize new innovations. For inventors, BIG offers Roadshows, Idea Hunts, and even accepts general submissions. Their intent is to help find that one in a thousand invention that is perfect for Black and Decker for example. For large, established firms, BIG offers Innovation Challenges where their network of over 13,000 inventors submit ideas on open idea challenges. A recent challenge was held for Staples. BIG helped Staples design a public invention contest for office supplies to help differentiate Staples products from commodity goods, drive traffic into stores, and generate positive PR. In the first year, the contest generated 8500 entries, received national U.S. media coverage, and led to the launch of four innovative products.

FlashPoint has had a relationship with BIG since 2004. In April 2004 an inventor approached FlashPoint to help try and commercialize his product, a new type of personal flotation device. It was designed to replace the life jacket through a very comfortable and easy to wear automatically inflating belt. It was tested and certified by the Coast Guard – it really worked as promised. Actually a sad story – the inventor had spent his life savings on the project – gone through a divorce, and was living in near poverty, exhausted and desperate. I was sold on the product, and committed to the inventor to work for a percentage on sales if we could get it to market. We developed marketing materials, detailed commercialization plans, and hit the road to try to sell it. We presented the product to BIG and they were excited too. In fact, they agreed to sponsor an airing of 5,000 units on QVC. We were on our way. Unfortunately, when we tried to line up the manufacturing, the inventor’s contract manufacturer did not have the capacity to fabricate the units. We found another supplier but the inventor could not raise the funds for the QVC inventory. We tried to secure angel investment, but we could not get a deal closed. All investors were not happy 7 years had elapsed on the patent, and had concerns with the inventor. So we had to fill BIG in on the bad news. As with many failed inventors and inventions – there are often sad stories behind them – and many what ifs. A lesson to be learned – do not spend all of your life’s savings and run out of funds and energy before you get to market. Have a clear commercialization strategy and do not hope for the best once you have a patent and a prototype. As with manufacturing, once you have a functioning product does not mean it will be successful.

So, check out BIG – if you have the right idea in the right space – your potential for successful licensing may be improved. BIG is currently on the lookout for high-potential micro-businesses.

Develop Inventions Yourself???

Sam — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:26:38 +0000

Doing it alone is tempting. I found this on an old Google Answers post the other day:

I have a patent and trademark for a plastic trash bag clip. It is designed to be extruded in plastic, then cut by machine to size. I have spent about $10,000 on legal fees, and $8,000 traveling to Monterrey, Mexico and paying for extrusion of prototypes, fabrication of die, etc. The samples were very disappointing.

I am disinclined to spend thousands more on better prototypes, and don’t trust “invention submission” scams. How can I license or market a patented product that is, I believe, very marketable?

My heart breaks when I hear or read stories similar to these. The stories often talk about bad manufacturers (like above that make bad molds), prototype manufacturers who go out of business and lose design files, patent agents / attorneys that file worthless patents and it goes on and on. These upset me because so much money is gone and essentially there is nothing to show for it. In this case, the inventor has a “disappointing” trial production run, an essentially worthless 21 page patent and a valid fear of “invention submission” companies.

Manufacturing: First let me say that many times the first run of a production mold doesn’t come out quite right. Most molds are very changeable for relatively less money. Second this is a common issue, a first time inventor has found a great manufacturer but there is no history. Without any past experience with the manufacturer (it is not just manufacturing but any outsourced product development task) the inventor cannot know if this is going to work out. Thirdly, this is a clear cut case of not a lot of manufacturing knowledge. The process should be a straight plastic injection mold. Without a doubt this would have produced a better prototype.

Patents: This inventor (as many do) patented their idea very quickly. It cost a lot and the inventor felt that it was worthwhile because now he has protection and owns the idea. However, a quick look at the patents in the area of invention show that it wasn’t really protected. Why, because a different inventor filed a year later and got a patent (although design) on a very similar trash bag clip.

Invention Submission Companies: A fear of these companies is very healthy, although I hope that we have shown that a fear of anyone who you haven’t had successful interactions with previously including manufacturers and patent agents / attorneys is also healthy. Scam companies recently have been very publicly documented and even sued. There are many places that can help you find out which ones are bad and which ones are good (yes there are good ones out there). A few resources for weeding out the bad ones are: The National Inventor Fraud Center and the Rip Off Report, I can speak for BIG as a good guy and I have heard good things about Pelham West Associates. Always do your research, get references, there is lots of information about there about evaluating these types of companies.

DIY: I personally have developed products alone, without outside help from a company like Flashpoint Development providing product development services. The results were not great, like the inventor in this post I spent a lot on design, prototyping and intellectual property, I spent several months and made progress, but I would not call it a success. Eventually I ran out of time and money and the idea stalled out. Having had this experience of not wanting to involve (pay) consultants, I completely understand this point of view. Unfortunately, it generally turns into a learning experience similar to a semester of college in expenses. When I hear about these stories I cringe because I get flashbacks. Having seen the end result and hearing the stories, if I was to invent again for the first time (its hard to travel back in time) I would be more scared of DIY than getting product design & development help.