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I’m shutting down the Inventor Education blog

I have to say this really sucks.

As many of you know I’ve been writing this blog for almost ten years. In that time I’ve met some of the most wonderful people in our industry – and of course some real scumbags.

What you may not know is that, many of those scumbags I warn you about. Both the individuals and companies who in my opinion are taking advantage of you – well, many of those folks are not…

Are inventors really that intelligent?

Inventors are generally intelligent people. So how is it such obviously intelligent people can be so susceptible to the snake oil of a few invention submission companies who will eventually separate them from their money?

It’s simple really – they want so much to believe, they want so much to achieve, that even well educated people suspend logic and travel down roads that to most of us would be…

Are you an Entrepreneur or an Inventor?

Any entrepreneur knows that building companies is a set of steps. Very specific steps, that when performed properly will always result in the creation of a functional company. Those steps, as definable as they are, as actionable and repeatable, will not however, ensure the profitability of the company.

I’ve been building companies since I was in High School. From painting, to remodeling, to…

These idiots are exploiting inventors

I’ve watched the exploitation of independent inventors for years now, often at the hands of those who pretend to care about or industry. So, why do we as inventors let ourselves be exploited by those with an agenda? Because we’re part stupid, part hopeful, and part egocentric – that’s why.

I saw a video recently where the patent reform people were marching out independent inventors to voice their…

Do I need a Trademark or a Copyright?

For most inventors issues of legal protection are very confusing. In fact, most inventors will simply get a patent on their invention. However, there can be cases where a copyright or trademark play a part in your overall protection strategy – so I asked some attorney friends of mine to explain the differences for us… 

The choice between registering a trademark and a copyright is not always a…

Want to share my invention?

One of the ways I’ve used to create a businesses around an invention is a process called Share Equity.

Share Equity is a simple process of awarding shares in your company to people with skills you don’t have. This is how It works:

Think of your invention as a company with 100 shares of value. Each share is like a penny to a dollar of overall value. In share equity companies you simply give away a…

Uncle Sam wants to buy your products!

Did you ever think you could sell your product to the military? Well you can.

I had a conversation recently with an inventor who was telling me a sales rep had approached her and told her he could sell her product into the military. She wanted to know what that actually meant, so let me explain.   

The “Military” is a broad term when it comes to products. There are two main areas of the military…

But how is that made? Loss Wax Casting

As inventors we obviously we enjoy learning about how things are made. However, more importantly than just enjoying the knowledge. We need to understand how factories make products so we can incorporate those processes into the designs of our inventions.

Here on the Inventor Education Blog I’ve shown you Roto-casting, Injection Molding, even Vacuum Forming processes. All in an effort to explain…

Does MAP pricing screw the consumer?

Does MAP pricing screw the consumer? Not the way it was designed, but maybe the way it’s used.

Let’s talk for a moment about Minimum Advertised Prices, or what we call in the industry MAP Pricing.

As an inventor trying to get your product to market you will, at some point, run into MAP pricing while dealing with retailers. When you do, here are a few little things you should know.

MAP pricing is…

Some very good patent advice

Recently I ran across a question about updating the content of a Provisional Patent Application (PPA) once you have made changes to your design. This is a very common question, but I particularly like the answers the inventor received from Frank White and Don Kelly – so I thought I would share them with you.

The Question: I created a visual prototype and filed a ppa. After it was filed and I…

What celebrity invented that?

I have often said inventing is the great equalizer. It cares nothing about your education, your money, or what city you grew up in. It’s a process of discovery equally achievable by all. It’s also a process participated in by many you may not think would be inventing. However, you may be wrong, as witnessed by this list of celebrity inventors MentalFloss so kindly compiled for us from the pages…

Terms you need to know if you sell to retailers

My good friend Roger Brown often makes these lists of terms that are important to know if you’re doing business in the retail products world.

Inspired by Roger, and with a little cut and paste, I expanded on some of these terms and focused them into terms you would run across selling into a retailer.

Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)- The minimum amount of product required to place an order.

Freight…

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb!

Okay – I’m just going to blurt it out for all you would-be inventor historians out there. Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.

In fact – The light bulb was invented 45 years before Thomas Edison was even born. Humphrey Davey invented the light bulb in 1802. He was also the inventor of the battery.

In 1840, seven years before Thomas Edison was born, British scientist Warren de la Rue…

Did Stephen Key really write that?

Alright, so this is the tricky part about what I do. I’ve written this blog for almost ten years now. Hundreds of articles about everything you can think of in this industry. Including some of the people my experiences have shown me are, well, shall we say, crooks.

I know, that’s a strong word. Crooks. But when you deceive people for the purpose of taking their money then I think it fits.

One…

Here are a few questions you should ask

My good friend, and successful inventor Roger Brown and I were talking the other day and he mentioned he had developed a list of questions he sends inventors who contact him looking for advice. Once the inventor has answered the questions Roger has a better understanding of where they are. I asked him to send over the list so we could publish it on the blog – so he did.

Here are a handful of…

Maybe I should buy a sheep

Well, if you’re anything like me you hate lawn work. To be fair, I live in the south where it’s always hot and humid, so doing almost anything outside is never much fun.

But lawn work? Not me. Not that I’m above it in any way, just that I don’t enjoy it.

So I started thinking about what lawn work must have been like years ago, before technology brought us the lawn mower we know today. Who…

You’re an inventor. Want to make a quick buck?

Of course you want to make a quick buck, so do I. That however is unlikely to happen as an inventor. Most of us in the industry know this fact. However, as you can read below, there are a lot of would-be inventors that didn’t get the memo.

Hey, I have an idea for a improvement or tweek / combo of 2 existing house hold products.  I have no idea where to go from here I don’t have any prototype,…