An inventor has to believe that his idea is valuable otherwise he wouldn’t be pursuing it. The value may be to the consumer, the value may be to his bank account, or somewhere in between. The facts are that if the invention doesn’t fill a need while adding value to the consumer, put money in the pockets of the inventor, as well as in the pockets of everyone else involved (manufacturer, distributor, packager, marketer…) it’s not likely that it will succeed. It’s a team effort that creates success.
Here is an interesting article by Andy Gibbs which starts out with a fairly strong reality check.
We have all heard or said -- "Hey. What (they) should do is ..!" Or better yet: "What they should have done is ..!"
At the moment "they" becomes "I", the seed of intellectual property creation is planted in the mind of the inventor, author, artist or musician. The new inventor charges off to create the "better mousetrap", sets his eyes on that pot of gold, and pursues the ubiquitous patent.
Depending on which source you believe, the percentage of unsuccessfully commercialized patents ranges between 93-98%. That means that even on a good day, no more than 2-7% of the patents ever return a "profit" to the inventor. It's incomprehensible then, that mankind would not come to realize that this poor success rate -- which has repeated itself year after year for a century or more -- is the result of perpetuating the "wrong formula" (even though we are considered to be the Planet's most intelligent creatures).
Almost true. The "formula" is simply "too much at the expense of too little". There is too much information published regarding "How To Get Your Idea Patented", and "How To Make A Million From Your Idea", at the expense of what is published on "How To Understand The Intellectual Property Valuation Process and Capitalize On It".
Or is even this true? In fact, the cold reality is that mankind is ever-looking for an easy way to get rich quick, and it is easier to self-justify spending money on those who will stroke your ego, and lead you to believe that your idea is the greatest, and that "You too can make a million dollars from your idea" than it is to come to terms with the trials and tribulations of how difficult it is to create the wealth that is normally associated with the well-known, successful innovators.
Those who discover the formula go down in the history books -- Frisbee, Velcro, Gortex, Erte, Men In Black, and James Michner. Those who wish for the "world to make a beaten path" to their door -- simply because they have an idea -- will not see success. End of philosophy lesson.
This is an excerpt from an excellent series of articles by Andy Gibbs, The Gibbs Group, Yuba City, CA, 530-673-9430.
These articles by Andy Gibbs are very detailed and layout a strategy aimed toward protection and success. A significant amount of detail has been presented in these articles and address topics from start to finish. You will probably find yourself having to read these over and over to grasp their full meaning since they discuss areas that you may not have encountered yet. They can be found at www.tenonline.org/art/imi.html
Here’s an article from Ed Zimmer that is a good down-to-earth look at what you are up against and a call to be able to take a non-biased look at your idea.
www.tenonline.org/art/9006.html
Matt Yubas has a couple excellent articles outlining the basics which can be found at:
www.mattyubas.com/invention-articles/mattyubas-steps-from-product-idea-to-product-success.html
www.mattyubas.com/invention-articles/mattyubas-five-actions-for-success.html
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