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.

Once upon a time (now) in a far away land (here) a product development company (us) came upon a great product concept. The inventor was eager to get his idea developed and because of the nature of this specific industry, time to market was paramount. The product was beyond our inventors technical expertise, required more funding than our inventor had on hand and needed a substantial company (and developed business model) behind it for it to be successful.

So what does the inventor do?

A few possible options and the philosophies that drive them:

1. Partner aka Joint Venture- The inventor should partner with anyone that can help the product get off the ground. If our inventor gives partners equity or royalties, the partners are more likely to produce. Partners in this case might provide business development, prototypes or funding (best case scenario all of the above). However this strategy can become difficult with the different groups performing different tasks at the same time. The inventor becomes more of a supervisor of several corporate departments than an inventor

2. Do it alone – A classic inventor perspective that is enforced by misconceptions of intellectual property theft, good ideas are good ideas forever and I can do anything. Time to market is important and this option can take years (even with help).

3. Raise $ – Money can solve everything and the inventor could focus on raising funds to purchase the service of the additional pieces. Unfortunately this strategy can be a catch 22, where the inventor needs to both prove the business plan and build a prototype to get funding.

4. Abandon – If I can’t do it, no one can. Obviously the worst option for a great idea. Fear of failure, idea theft and being taken advantage of drive this hopeless perspective that many “idea” people without prototypes follow like a religion.

But what is an inventor to do?