NEVADA INVENTORS ASSOCIATION

"Education, Assistance, and

Networking for the Inventor"

The Nevada INVENTOR

Official newsletter of and by the Nevada Inventor's Association

Volume: XV No. 10 -Education, Assistance, and Networking for the Inventor- Oct. 2003

Next Meeting: October 25, 2003 9:00 AM Washoe Medical Center Room cr101

Our web site is 'www.nevadainventors.org' Founded in 1988

We are a 501(c)6 group under IRS rules.

The purpose of NIA is to educate inventors and potential inventors through whatever means available, including regular meeting, classes, seminars, workshops, and evaluations, within NIA or in cooperation with other persons or organizations. The education of inventors, or potential inventors, may also include the publishing of written materials, such as a regularly published newsletter, flyers, notices, or letters.

Additional goals of NIA are to inform its members of private, civic, governmental, and public resources which may be of assistance to inventors; to promote a positive public image of inventors; to provide for its members a referral/resource directory; and to furnish assistance to its members, whenever possible, by directing their efforts toward the successful development of their inventions.

Have You Got What it Takes? by Lawrence J. Udell From Inventors Digest

Here are twelve points to consider before you jump in Peer recognition and money are big motivational factors that influence the typical inventor.

I talk to an average of 20 to 30 inventors every month and all have the same dream: to achieve success and wealth. However, many inventors are inventing for the wrong reasons. Rather than inventing professionally to fill a need, many invent what they want and assume everyone else will want it, too. In their minds, they are inventing something that everyone will buy, but they have not conducted any market research to know what "everyone" will buy or to even know what the real competition is.

I shudder when they ask me to help sell their brain child, especially since they have not conducted a patent search or determined whether there is a market, who would make it, what the costs are, etc. There is no fast-track to successful inventing. My definition of a successful inventor is someone who makes more money from his invention than what he invested in it. Recent best estimates show that less than five percent of inventions and/or patents ever earn money. That is a reality.

Last year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 158,118 utility patents; projections indicate that more than 245,000 will issue this year. Consider the fact that 1,650 companies throughout the world received ten or more U. S. patents last year. IBM received the most-2,922-and earned an estimated $1.6 billion in 2000 on royalties from licensing, which is a major increase over the $762 million earned in 1999. Why is IBM so successful? Because the company spends about $5 billion a year on research and development. It is highly focused in the areas where it wants to maintain technical superiority. What isn't used in the corporation is licensed to others, including IBM's competitors. Invent what is needed, not what you think you like or people will buy. Just because your next door neighbor and your mother would buy one does not

denote a successful new product. If your objective is to license, sit back and collect royalties, then you have to work at it very methodically and with self-imposed time lines and a budget.

If you have a family, you have to consider their well being and support before you start to spend money on patents, prototypes, paid consultants, etc. Consider the following about inventing. Take these to heart and don't jump in if you can't swim-or don't have a life preserver.

1. Do not fall in love with your "brainchild"; it will make it very difficult for it to ever leave home.

2. Do your in-depth research. Go to libraries that have large reference sections. The Internet is great, but not all knowledge and information is on the World Wide Web.

3. Stay away from those who want to help you for a fee, unless they have verified credentials. Then ask yourself, why you need them.

4. Attempting to sell what you have without any intellectual property protection? Unless you have an asset with a perceived value, forget it.

5. Be willing to admit what you don't know, then surround yourself with those who do.

6. Never take money from relatives or friends who believe in you, unless they can afford to lose it. This is critical. You could get in trouble.

7. Don't create a false sense of the ultimate invention and think that no one will ever improve upon it.

8. Remember, if you think your product is so good that it's going to capture the market, stop and think what those companies that are losing the business are going to do to counteract your success.

9. Evaluate carefully whether it is logical and financially feasible to go into your own business. What are the sacrifices and the potential losses?

10. Never do your own negotiating. Hire someone with experience and credentials.

11. Remember, if you can create one invention, you can always create more. Don't live and die with a single dream.

12. Never let greed be your judgment factor. It will not only destroy you, but it will destroy your dream and those around you.

America is truly the land of opportunity. You have a ready market, manufacturing capabilities to make anything, unlimited resources for information, investment monies from both the professional sectors and the angel investors, and the ability to dream and create whatever reality you desire.

Go do it, but take one careful step at a time.

Lawrence J. Udell is Executive Director of the California Invention Center and the Center For New Venture Alliance. He can be reached at Intellectual Property International, 3766 Brookdale Blvd., Castro Valley, CA 94546-2014 Tel. (510) 888-1998.

FAX (510) 538-5200. Email: udellipi@ix.netcom.com.

"Ethical Standards & Conflict of Interest"

Reporting Attorneys (from UIAUSA )

WESTFIELD, MA -- A growing number of fraudulent invention promotion companies are offering patent services to unsuspecting inventors. As in every industry, it is possible to find some individual that would be willing to compromise their integrity and ethical standards for the all-powerful dollar.

When a fraudulent invention promotion company hires a patent attorney or agent to do patent work, you immediately have a conflict of interest. As most everyone knows, these frauds want every idea to appear marketable and patentable. Since the company and not the inventor pay the patent practitioner, it is now in the best interest of the practitioner to have most every idea appear to be patentable. Their boiler plate opinions almost always lead the inventor to believe that their idea is patentable, when in fact, the practitioner knows full well that no meaningful protection is available. In these cases, tens of thousands of worthless design patents have been applied for and ultimately issued.

Fortunately, there are very few patent practitioners that would jeopardize their own ethical standards and participate in this devastating scam. The few that have no standards are in tremendous demand by the fraudulent companies. These guns-for-hire ultimately end up providing worthless patent services to more than one invention promoter provides. They have become very proficient at mass producing useless patent applications.

Sometime back, one of these fraudulent companies faced with a growing number of lawsuits was forced to close their doors. The suffering of thousands of naive inventors that unwittingly paid these scam artists millions of dollars was not yet over. The very same patent practitioners that were an integral part of the fraud started asking the victims for more money. This act went far beyond any ethical or moral violations. These vultures were demanding and getting the victims to pay more money to complete the patent process they had already paid for. A vast number of these victims had already depleted all of their financial resources. In these cases, the inventor had to sadly watch his patent application go abandoned. In the mean time, the practitioner moves on to another invention promoter and it is business as usual. This is a well-orchestrated scenario that has played on for decades.

The frauds close their doors and continue to operate under another name. The unethical practitioner claims that he was an outside contractor with no involvement in the scam. The same people continue to operate the same lucrative scam and the independent inventor continues to be a tragic victim.

This has to stop! The unethical patent practitioners are as much a part of the scam as the invention promoters. If you are or were a victim, file a complaint at IndependentInventor@uspto.gov

If you are a victim and elect to remain silent, the scam will continue and our economy will lose even more desperately needed new products and technology. * IAC Note: Unethical patent practitioners constitute an extremely small percentage of an overall ethical profession. In fact much, if not most, is done by what is referred to as the "Florida Connection." A disbarred Patent Attorney that uses a small number of attorneys as a front. Like all professions, it is the "bad guys" that get all the attention and give a "black eye" to the vast majority of hard working honest professionals.

To report an unethical patent attorney or agent contact: IndependentInventor@uspto.gov

Inventor's First Steps

By Mark Ellwood, Past UIA Board of Directors (from uiausa)

You've just come up with an idea. What to do next?

There is no exact order of what you should be doing. But we like to suggest two broad areas for inventors to embark on.

First, learn all you can about running a business, even if you hope to license your idea.

Second, write a business plan. Even if you hope to license your idea, (and that's actually a rarity among the successful inventors we've met) you'll still need to have a plan.

Here are some other things you can do. Finish all the steps in any order you like, and check them off as you go. Once you're finished, the next step will become clear. It works!

Read two books on starting a small business, cover to cover.

Visit your bank and ask them for information on starting a small business. Obtain one of their computerized business plan templates. Don't think about approaching them for a loan until you've completed a business plan and investigated other financing opportunities.

Call the Canadian Industrial Innovation Centre at 1 800 265 4559 and obtain their Inventors' Assistance information kit. They are a not-for-profit and will provide an objective assessment of your invention for a fee.

Write down in one sentence, the kind of product you have and the general benefits your product provides without giving away specifics. This will help you in communicating to others, without giving away any proprietary information.

For instance,

a) a bicycle pump which can fold up and fit under a seat, thereby making it less prone to theft.

b) a plastic kitchen tool to make straining pasta easier,

c) a board game which teaches children the alphabet.'

Create a visual representation of your product; a drawing, picture, mock-up or working prototype. Write down a parts list, making sure to include all packaging materials. · Create a binder with tabs for all of the information you gather about your invention.

Write a list of all the distribution channels you can think of, with the advantages and disadvantages of each for your product. Consider retail stores, warehouse outlets, direct mail order, mail order catalogues, trade shows, sidewalk vendors, business to business sales, telemarketing, etc.

Purchase a membership in the Inventors' Alliance, the United Inventors Association or another business networking organization, if you haven't already and attend meetings every month. At each meeting, get the names and numbers of at least two new people or organizations that may be of benefit to you.

Create a net worth statement. Include how much you own, how much you owe and how much you are prepared to invest in your product.

Seek out a successful entrepreneur that you admire and take him or her to lunch. Ask them as many questions as you can about what made them successful.

Start writing out a business plan. Even if you can't fill in all of the sections, create an outline with the different headings you'll need. Fill in the parts you can. Just get something down on paper that you can use to a) clarify your own thoughts and b) communicate to others. Create an address list of important names and numbers and put it into your binder. It should include potential suppliers, successful business people, other inventors and government sources of information.

Find out what other companies are trying to reach the kind of people who are likely to buy your product. Write down what they're doing successfully, and what ideas you might be doing successfully, and what ideas you might incorporate.

Write down at least 5 reasons why someone would not buy your product. Beside each reason, write down how you plan to overcome the hurdle.

Learn about the pros and cons of each type of intellectual property protection: patents, copyrights and trademarks.

Rodney Dangerfield: "If it weren't for pickpockets I'd have no sex life at all.

Don't rush off to see a patent lawyer until you talk with other inventors first.

PRESS RELEASE from Patentcafe.com

New Invention / Product Evaluation System Offers Affordable Alternative For Inventors and Small Business Innovators (Sacramento, California - January 23, 2003) -- Business thrives on patents and intellectual property. The average cost of a patent over its 20-year life is estimated at $15,000, yet according to the U.S. Patent Office about 97% of all inventions fail to even earn back those patent costs.

Most patent owners fail to objectively evaluate critical factors that affect their product's commercial potential. In an effort to change that PatentCafe.com has launched its Invention/Product Evaluation System Professional Edition with SMART™ (System and Method for Adaptive Relational Testing) technology. With this system, businesses both large and small can objectively evaluate new product ideas before making significant investments or suffering huge losses based on poor market research. "Products fail because inventive companies or businesses often lack the time or knowledge to properly evaluate the influences that engineering, marketing, sales, legal, manufacturing and patents collectively have on product commercialization," says PatentCafe CEO Andy Gibbs.

"This software is not only a powerful business tool, it can be invaluable for undergraduate business, engineering and law schools to help teach students how they can contribute to the overall success of product commercialization." Following the trends of the leading software developers, PatentCafe's system is a Web-based solution that requires only an Internet browser.

A comprehensive invention evaluation can be completed in as little as 2-3 hours. The SMART product evaluation software actually systematically reacts during the evaluation, customizing questions and calculations along the way as a business owner begins entering information into the system. The SMART system guides an inventor step-by-step through more than 80 finely-tuned questions addressing the key success factors that can contribute to an invention's financial success or failure, including: Competition and Competitive Product Analysis Sales & Marketability Assessment Societal Consequences and Environmental Impact Evaluation Product Design & Engineering Approaches Production and Manufacturability Assessment Patent, Trademark and Copyright Protection Assessment Legal, Liability and Safety Evaluation

When an invention evaluation is completed, the PatentCafe (SMART™) program will create a detailed 30-page report that is immediately available for downloading and printing. The report contains more than 30 customized charts and graphs, as well as recommendations to address the weakest points of the respective invention.

The Web-based Invention and Product at 'http://evaluation.patentcafe.com/' Another aspect Evaluation Program and sample reports are available that sets this service apart is that the PatentCafe SMART service is priced at just $50 per evaluation - compared to the $200 - $600 (or more) charged by some university evaluation services. It is also the only Invention Evaluation Program that includes a critically important Invention Development Financial Analysis and Budget Planning Report.

About PatentCafe® -- 'http://www.patentcafe.com/' PatentCafe.com, Inc. is a network of information, e-commerce, global patent data, and enterprise software properties serving the online Intellectual Property community. Since the launch of its first property in 1996, it's become the Web's most comprehensive provider of Web-based legal software solutions (ASP), IP related news, information, products and services. Recognized worldwide, it services nearly 3/4 million monthly inventors, patent attorneys, corporate counsel, intellectual property managers, academia, and R&D labs through seven Web properties. PatentCafe provides the largest collection of patent development and intellectual asset management resources, on or off the Web. PatentCafe.com, Inc. is a privately held corporation funded by internet.com Fund II / Jupitermedia (Nasdaq: JUPM), Gray Cary Fund, the venture capital arm of the technology law firm, Gray Cary Ware & Friedenrich, LLP, and other private investment firms.

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact: Todd Brabender / Spread The News Public Relations, Inc. (785) 842-8909 / todd@spreadthenewspr.com

NEVADA INVENTOR'S ASSOCIATION

Meeting Agenda for Saturday, October 25, 2003

(cut for brevity)

9am: Introduction of Officers

Introduction of all Officers

9:10am-10:00am Old business:

Introduction of today's Agenda

Introduction of new Attendees and new Members

Secretary's /Treasurer's Report:

Reminder of Dues with Web/Advertising privileges

President's Report including update on Nevada Museum of Science by Dr. Torch

Update on NIA Group Invention Project

Open discussion: Discussion of non-profit status (i.e. 501C3 vs C6), Members

recommendations and Q & A period

Individual Progress Reports of Nevada Inventors

10:00am - 10:10am Break

10:10am-11:00 am New Business: Moderated by Tony Patti

Presentations and discussion of intellectual property, royalty & marketing issues by:

1. Nels Johnson, "Investor Help Line" issues 2. Milt Adams, "Light in the Window" issues

3. Daryl Lawson, Patent and royalty issues 4. Kevin and Ronda Calkins, Copyright protection issues

11:00am - 11:10am Break

11:10 am-12:00noon New Business: Moderated by Tony Patti

Presentation of new inventions by new members:

1. Paul Wosett, Fuel Cell, etc. 2. Chuck Weiss, Biomass and bioproducts, etc.

Members recommendations and Q & A period, open discussion

12:00 noon: Adjourn and begin Board of Trustees Meeting

OFFICERS of the NIA
President Dr. Bill Torch Our web site www.nevadainventors.org

Vice- Pres John Martison www.uspto.gov

Sec-Treasure V. Chemist www.inventorsdigest.com

Sergeant at Arms Floyd Krebs www.patents.ibm.com

Programs Carol Foldvary-Anderson www.inventorfraud.com

Nia founder Don Costar Don's site www.doncostar.com

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