5 Little Mistakes that Cause Big Decision Making Problems

When you’re in business for yourself, you’re the one who has to make the big decisions, the challenging choices. If you’re new to entrepreneurship (heck, even if you’re an old pro) all this responsibility can be daunting, hard on the self-esteem, and you may find yourself looking for a hole in the sand that’s about the size of your head.

There are a few self-imposed obstacles that everyone experiences when faced with tough decisions. These are not just decision-making obstacles these are obstacles that interfere with critical thinking as well. A little self-awareness and objectivity can help you navigate your own brain and make better decision, quicker.

Mistake #1 – Too Much Expert Advice
Experts are human, prone to as much confusion and as many character defects as you are. Furthermore, they do not have the best view of the situation – you do. It is very good to GET expert advice. It is very bad to RELY on expert advice. Seek out the advice of experts and experienced professionals but use the advice as an opportunity to view the problem from another angle.

Mistake #2 – Overestimating Outside Advice
When your dad says, “I wouldn’t do it that way. You should…” Chances are pretty good that you are going to listen very closely to what he has to say. People who have our respect and admiration can lead us astray because we believe they know more than we do. Make sure you consider the perspective of these people – be aware of your feelings for them and about them and be honest about whether or not they fully understand the issues and the situation you are facing. Just like the expert advice, get their advice and use it but don’t blindly follow it just because “I said so.”

Mistake #3 – Underestimating Outside Advice
Same as mistake #2 but there are certain people we automatically discount as not knowing anything. A good example may be your mom. She stayed home and raised you, she doesn’t know anything about business. BUT, you mother knows YOU and her advice can be just what you need. When you find yourself automatically tuning out certain people ask yourself why. Then examine what new perspective this person is giving you.

Mistake #4 – Only Hearing What You Wanna Hear
Many times we are blinded by what we want. Or we’re scared of real challenges in our way.

Not wanting to hear the truth, tuning it out or ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. The heart wants what the heart wants but the heart’s not going to get it by ignoring reality. You’ll know if your expectations and desires are getting in the way of your decision making if you find yourself doing a lot of rationalizing and defending. Open your eyes and your ears.

Mistake #5 – Not Trusting Yourself
Sometimes intuition is the best guide. You know when you’ve made a terrible mistake when you feel physically sick immediately after deciding. (Like when the kids and I brought home that rescue cat – I made a terrible mistake. I didn’t listen to my gut. I only heard what I wanted to hear from the rescue workers and I overestimated the advice of my kids! Oy!) Our brains work on so many interconnected levels when processing information that we aren’t capable of CONSCIOUSLY acknowledging all of the components of a thought. While our conscience can’t hold it all our bodies are not fooled. Tune in to your feelings about things, too.

The bottom line is to tune in to your own thought process. Ask yourself why you think what you think. Make sure you aren’t rationalizing. And trust yourself a little more. After all, you’ve made it this far haven’t you?

Originally posted on Peeling the Orange http://peelingtheorange.com/

Confession of a Graphic Designer

I have known Lisa Fargo for a long time now and what I've come to find out is that she is one of the truest and most genuine people I know. Now, she's a little wacky for sure, but she's a designer so you kind of expect that. What you don't normally expect in an industry like ours is honesty, compassion, and great quality work all out of the same shop.  We are proud to have Lisa at our side in the UIA ready and willing to help our members on this difficult journey.

Confession of a Graphic Designer
By Lisa Fargo

I have a confession to make.  I’m an ex-con. Yes, you heard me correctly… and ex-con.

…the good news is that by ex con, I mean that  I was once a  Clearly Oblivious Newbie when it came to the invention business.

I started out trusting that all inventor “help” resources were on the up and up…that they were there to honorably guide the unknowing inventor through the sometimes long and tedious process of possibly getting their product to market.  I say possibly because after 15 years of designing in and around the invention market, I have learned that the odds are stacked against you. Statistically, less than 10% of inventors ever get their invention to market or, if you are one of the really lucky ones, achieve profitable success.

The big, cookie cutter help centers,  giving you the sales pitch in a 3am commercial, that’s where I was initially “locked up”.  I was young & optimistic and I naively believed that my design work was helping people. I did drawing after drawing, sales sheet after sales sheet,  templated package after generic, templated package.  All of them done quickly and without much time for personalized details because I had a quota to fill. Often, I would talk one-on-one with the inventors who wanted changes or something different and I was forced to explain to them that I couldn’t help them or to get them to settle…all part of the script I was given to keep projects moving. 

I couldn’t do it. The more I spoke with them, the more compassion and common sense prevented me from watching these inventors pay big money for mediocre treatment that was never going to get them anywhere.  Some of these inventors had put down their last dime, retirement savings, borrowed money from friends and family because they believed in their invention. They made ME believe in their invention but I knew I couldn’t help them behind the restrictive bars of any corporate prison cell.  Now, I’m not saying that ALL big invention submission companies operate this way. There are a few good ones out there but many, many fly-by-night bad ones….downright criminal. So how do you know which is which? who can you trust? It’s overwhelming and frustrating and mind numbing…and I get it.

The best thing any inventor can do before committing to any help is to do their research. No matter how desperate you are to keep things moving, or how great the sales pitch, get online and read reviews! Check the BBB ratings! Speak with other clients! This is how you find “us”…the UIA, Fargo Design Co., Inc and a slew of other reputable people and help resources that can give you your best chance at success.

I have continued to help inventors through the years and all my experiences have helped me to be able to deliver packaging that speaks to their specific demographic market, sales sheets that are professional and eye catching and award-winning branding that makes them look like they have their head in the game. I do this because I love it. I understand that inventors are special and require a different kind of help.

I invite you to review my background and speak with former and/or current clients. I don’t advertise, I operate solely via word of mouth. I hope this is a testament to my commitment to leaving every client happy with the design and treatment they received. Good luck on your journey and be thankful for those of us in the industry who have been paroled. J

Lisa Fargo
Ex-Con & Owner of Fargo Design Co., Inc

www.fargodesignco.com

Sound advice....

We all know how slippery a slope the commercialization process can be. The licensing of an innovation or an invention to a company can be not only slippery, but scary as you traverse waters you may never have been in before. Roger Brown recently wrote a list of things to do (and more importantly not do) when approaching a company with your next big idea.

It’s sound advice from a very successful inventor

1. Understand that inventing is a business. Treat it like one.

2. Actually research your idea before you send it to a company. Don’t tell them “There’s nothing out there like this!” When spending 2 minutes on the web they find several items exactly like yours.

 

3. Understand every company has a different method and time range for reviewing submissions. Don’t send a proposal on Monday via snail mail and call them Tuesday at 8:30am wanting to know when they will be sending you a contract. It is a simple task to ask the company you are submitting material for review “What is your normal turnaround for reviewing submissions?”

4. Don’t be married to your product and totally against changes to make it marketable.

5. Put your contact information on every item you send them. Don’t make them guess.
6. Don’t send prototypes unsolicited. Let them know a prototype is available upon request. You can’t expect a company to pay shipping for every prototype they receive unsolicited.

7. Understand every idea is not a million dollar idea. Yes, there are million dollar ideas, but they are not the majority of ideas. Be realistic in your expectations

8. Realize everyone that rejects your idea is not stupid.

 

9. Don’t send a 20 page explanation of your product. Be concise and clear on your sell sheet. If it takes more than two pages to explain your idea you have a problem.

10. Know who you are sending your submission to in the company. Don’t assume they will figure it out for you if you just send it in care of the company.

Let’s shed some light on it…

Although a flashlight is a relatively simple device, its invention did not occur until the late 19th century because it depended upon the earlier invention of the electric battery and electric light.

In 1898 the National Carbon Company introduced the first D cell electric battery, designed specifically for use in a flashlight. The National Carbon Company was founded in 1886 by the then Brush Electric Company executive W. H. Lawrence.

By 1898 the electric light was in wide spread use and provided a practical light source for the flashlight. The electric light with a carbon filament invented by Thomas Edison in 1879 was able to provide about 1500 hours of illumination.

Late in the 19th century, many attempts to devise a portable electric lamp had been made, but the early ones were unsuccessful. Now a common household item, the lowly flashlight was once considered a novel toy. The first flashlight, or electric hand torch, was invented about 1896. Early portable electric lights were called "flash lights" since they would not give a long steady stream of light. The flashlights introduced in 1898 by Conrad Hubert's company, that would later become Eveready, were more trustworthy making Eveready the leading name in flashlights.

Conrad Hubert became aware of the novelty item side of the electric industry and the tremendous profits to be gained and decided to start his own company. Hubert, came up with portable fans, a novelty pocket light, lighted stick pins, and even an illuminated flowerpot. Hubert named his company American Electrical Novelty & Manufacturing Company...In 1897, Hubert, seeing the potential of the flashlight, hired David Misell, an inventor who had patented a portable electric lamp in 1895 and a early bicycle head lamp in 1896. As an employee of Hubert's David Misell continued inventing improvements to lighting devices and together and separately they patented several flashlights

 

Hubert's first flashlights were hand-made from crude paper and fiber tubes, with a bulb and a rough brass reflector. Misell and Hubert assembled a number of tubular flashlights and gave them to New York City policemen in different precincts. They began receiving favorable testimonials from the policemen. In 1905 Hubert received a US patent in 1903 , number 737107 issued August 26, for a flashlight with an on/off switch in the now familiar cylindrical casing containing lamp and batteries.

Change the world one great idea at a time

We often find innovation and invention that makes an impact on our lives. But rarely do we find simple innovation that makes an impact on so many lives. This is a video of a simple idea, using simple physics whose impact on the people it touches is anything but simple.

Next time we turn on a light or throw away that used soda bottle we’ll no doubt think of what other “little things” in our lives could make such a huge difference.

Inventing ....It's a Boy's Life

It’s about 1974… Nixon is in office….Vietnam is winding down…. and I’m between 7th & 8th grades at St. Leo’s in northern Virginia.

Armed with an ad from the back of Boy’s Life Magazine, and a few grass cutting dollars I had saved. I anxiously place my order for the Super Gigantic “Real Hot Air Balloon” ……“Over 8 feet tall!”....I'm so excited I could burst.

Weeks later, (although it felt like years) it’s here! my Super Gigantic Hot Air Balloon from the back of Boy’s Life magazine. Wait, it’s a rather large envelope, but how could you fit a Super Gigantic Hot Air balloon in an envelope?....even a very large envelope? I start to question what my eyes are seeing with what my mind is telling me to expect. I open the envelope to find 10 - 8 foot long sections of Blue and White crate paper - that when glued together as show in the instructions - will result in what could only be described to an 8th grade inventor as pure inflatable "heaven"

Off we go, several of my like-minded young inventor friends and I, off to our not so super secret den of invention – the garage.

After a quick rummage through my dad's tool bench we find the glue we need and start the argues task of constructing our paper balloon - all the while holding out hope against reason that this craft will in some way actually lift one of us off the ground. Hours and hours later, it’s done. In all its glory an alternating blue and white paneled hot air balloon – over 8 feet tall!

We’ve tamed the beast of construction; we have the balloon, now all we should need is some hot air. Well obviously you can’t just find hot air, you have to make hot air – for that we turn to one of the most trusted tools in a young inventor's arsenal – My Dad’s blow torch!

There we are, in the driveway (although in our minds it may as well have been Cape Canaveral) with the top of our balloon secured to the end of a very long deep sea fishing rod, the metal ring installed in the opening, and torch at the ready. We start the process of “inflating” our craft for its madden voyage. It starts to inflate; it’s actually getting larger as the panels start to form that classic balloon shape. I have the torch, my buddy has the pole, and if memory serves me correctly my sister Susan (of Easy Bake Oven fame) is manning the ring at the bottom.

As I’m slowly inflating our balloon, the magnitude of the situation starts to sink in and my mind starts to drift a little - This is actually happening, we will be the first kids on our block to build and launch a real hot air balloon – this is huge!

And then it happens – distracted by my thoughts, I let the torch shift ever so slightly and the paper catches fire. It takes no time at all for our dream of flight to transform itself into a reenactment of those classic images of the Hindenburg. Now burning at an amazing rate, the balloon is reduced to ashes on the end of a deep see rod in no time flat.

All that work - and our efforts are rewarded with a small aluminum ring in the center of a rather large burn mark on the driveway.

We wallow in our pity for just a moment, make sure everyone is sworn to secrecy over the use of my dad’s blow torch - and head back to the basement to find another Boy’s Life

Don’t buy the Hope or the Hype!

When you are dealing with service providers in the inventing industry you are normally dealing with professionals who act ethically and responsibly. They sell services (that would be why we call them service providers) that many inventors need to transition an idea into a market viable product.

Services like patents, prototypes, web sites, consulting…..the list goes on. But what are they really selling you? Hope and Hype. That’s right, one you bring with you and the other they use to motivate you to buy. We all hope our invention is going to be a great product splashed all over the pages of consumer retail, after all, it’s our chance at the success we see portrayed on TV and in magazines every day. The Hype is supplied by the sales person - a fuel of sorts to stoke the fire of hope.

The problem is that’s not what you are buying – you are buying the service itself, a product, a deliverable. These things can be measured and qualified like any other product if you can set aside the Hope and see through the Hype long enough to look at them with an objective eye.

You do this by asking questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for references, or for examples of their work. If they are an invention submission company, ask to see their statistics. By law they have to provide you with the number of people they have secured deals for, and the number of people that have made more money than they have spent with the company. This can be important information when deciding if you want to purchase their products so don't be shy about asking for it.

In the end – it’s not about the Hope or the Hype – it’s about the facts

Second time around….

Its bright red frame isn't showing signs of gray. Its silver-gray drawing surfaces hasn't lost its shine. Its width still measures a trim of 9 ½ inches… but the Etch A Sketch Magic Screen® is almost 40 years old. It seems like only yesterday when the first Etch A Sketch® toys were produced on July 12, 1960. Here's the story…

In the late 1950's, a man by the name of Arthur Granjean invented something he called ``L'Ecran Magique", the magic screen, in his garage. In 1959, he took his drawing toy to the International Toy Fair in Nuremburg, Germany. As often happens to inventors, the Ohio Art Company saw it but had no interest in the toy. However, several months later Granjean took a chance and sent it to Ohio Art for a second time and they decided to take a chance on the product. The L'Ecran Magique was soon renamed the Etch A Sketch® and became the most popular drawing toy in the business. In the 1960, Ohio Art used television to advertise the Etch A Sketch®.

The response was so incredible that the company decided to continue manufacturing them until noon Christmas Eve 1960. The Etch A Sketches® were then immediately shipped to the West Coast so people in California could buy Etch A Sketch® on Christmas Eve and have them for Christmas.

The Etch A Sketch® has changed very little over the years. In the 1970s, Ohio Art offered hot pink and blue frames. But people still wanted the bright red frames that were so popular. The print on the frame has changed slightly, but the inner workings have remained exactly the same. The screen's reverse side is coated with a mixture of aluminum powder and plastic beads. The left and right knobs control the horizontal and vertical rods, moving the stylus where the two meet. When the stylus moves, it scrapes the screen leaving the line you see. The knobs have changed slightly. The new shape has a different edge for easier handling and turning.

What makes the Etch a Sketch® so popular? It has influenced a generation of artists who have made a road for themselves to press; magazines, newspapers, and TV. The Etch A Sketch® club often features these artists in its newsletter. The Etch A Sketch® Club was formed in 1978 and has an average of 2000 members, ranging from age two to eighty-two.

Show me your stuff....

 

The UIA would like to thank Techtronic Industries North America for its support of the UIA Inventor education mission.

Warren Tuttle of Power Tool Innovation LLC has teamed with Techtronic Industries North America (TTINA) to search outside the company for innovative new power tool products, accessories, and intellectual property (IP).  TTINA is a subsidiary of Techtronic Industries Co., Ltd., one of the largest global manufacturers of power tools.  TTINA distributes power tools under many brand names including the Ryobi and Ridgid brands.

TTI is a world-class leader in quality consumer, professional, and industrial products marketed to the home improvement, repair, and construction industries. An unrelenting strategic focus on powerful brands, innovative products and exceptional people drives the TTI success.

Through a clear and consistent strategy of acquiring and developing established brands, TTI has grown to become a clear market leader in home improvement power tools world wide.  

TTI is proud of its own history, and proud, too, of the huge legacy of tradition and excellence that we have inherited from the brands that today make up the TTI family.

But that's not all TTI is proud of.

We're proud of what we know is a bright future. A future where we continue to build strong relationships with the independent inventor community to bring great new ideas to consumers under these iconic brands.

Power Tool Innovations is the TTI path for the independent inventor. A way for you as inventors to get your ideas and inventions seen by top decision makers in the world of power tool development.

100% of all power tools on store shelves started in the mind of an inventor. Sending your power tool inventions to TTI through Power Tool Innovations could put you on that same path to success.

 So don't just sit there...send us your next great idea in power tools and accessories!  

 

I heard you on the radio!

Thanks to Lambert & Lambert for their support of the UIA Inventor Education mission by bringing you My Cool Invention Radio at the 2013 National Hardware Show UIA Inventor area.

We told them what you thought...

On April 29, the UIA submitted its comments to the Patent Office on the merits of a patent small claims proceeding.

Based on the responses of you the UIA Membership, we came out in support of the development of a small claims patent court and explained to those in Washington why the time is ripe.

As you may remember, several weeks ago we asked for your responses to several questions on this issue. Your survey responses were the cornerstone of this position and your participation was the key to having your voices heard.

The Results - You realized the existence a patent small claims proceeding would bring down the costs of defending a patent in court.  It would make infringers take you more seriously when you have a substantial claim, and would make it possible for an independent inventor to get fair and affordable legal representation.

Here are the UIA Member survey results used to craft the position on this important issue and passed on to the Patent Office as well as the working group charged with developing the small claims patent effort: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can clearly see these results demonstrate resounding support for change.

 

Not a single respondent believes that the current system of challenging infringement is effective for most individual inventors (question 2). 

 

In addition, 95% of all respondents believe that the cost of “defending a patent” (i.e., enforcing against an infringer) is unaffordable to most inventors (question 3).

 

And only 10% disagree that the ability to enforce (should it becomes necessary) affects the decision to pursue patent protection (question 5).

 

Recent court decisions underscore the need for changes - claimable damages are getting smaller and making small claims for damages puts patentees at risk of court penalties.  These trends are troubling.  They whipsaw all patentees, not just independent inventors, but affect independent inventors the most.

 

A small claims proceeding makes a lot of sense.  We need to see the costs of enforcement come down, particularly when the claim is “small” (generally a threshold below $3 million).  This may be the only way we will ever have a patent system that works for everyone.

 

But keep in mind, this is not Judge Judy. Even a small claims patent court can be a complicated place. Not because of the mechanism, but rather because the issues themselves are often complicated.

 

We have a long road ahead of us in developing a small claims patent court for independent inventors, but we're dedicated to making it happen, and we're dedicated to making sure your voice as both inventors and UIA members is heard on these important issues.

That's a pretty picture...

There are graphics every ware we look in life, packaging, billboards, clothing, even in places we don’t expect to find them – there they are. But all that imagery doesn’t mean we need what they are selling or that we care about the message they send.

As inventors we need to understand there is a huge demand for the graphical communication of the ideas and concepts we are presenting to the world - a world who may not share our ability to visualize those ideas in their mind. But when it comes to graphics, just because it’s available doesn’t mean we need them or that when we do, they are telling the right story.

So what’s an inventor to do? Educate yourself on where you are in the inventing process and then figure out what the graphic needs are for that particular place on your journey. Don’t just run off and get graphics because they make you feel good, or because they are cool looking. Make sure you need them and then make sure they work for you.

Below are the most common graphics needs for inventors. Read through them and then figure out where in your process they best fit.

I want to license my product idea to a company, what are my graphics needs to accomplish that?

- Manufacturer’s Sell Sheet: This simple one sided 8X10 is a basic illustration of your idea along with some benefit claims and contact information.

- Basic Product Illustrations: This can be as simple as a single 2D drawing of your idea in its final form, or as complicated as a set of 3D Illustrations of your idea in several different views - either way they are basic renderings designed to help people see what you are talking about.

I want to build a company around my idea and present it to manufacturers for development and to retailers for distribution, what are my graphics needs to accomplish this?

- Full Product Illustrations: These renderings are drawing of your idea in its final form normally presented as a set of 3D Illustrations of your idea in several different views. You can use these to find investors, or to see how the final product will look, but make sure if you invest in these they show enough detail to be able to explain the manufacturing processes to a factory.

- Glamor/Use Shots: Not unlike the place in your local mall, these are renderings designed to show how pretty your product is or your product "placed" graphically into a retail setting.

 

- Virtual Prototypes: This is a relatively new graphic in the industry; it’s a set of 3D drawings capable of being used for machining parts. On the surface they appear the same as 3D renderings however when you pay to have these done they MUST have the code embedded in them to run the prototyping equipment or they are just a pretty picture.

 

- Company Identity Graphics: In communicating with a retailer it’s very important to look professional. Take some time to build an identity for your new company that includes a nice logo, maybe a basic website, and even a professional sounding name.

 

- Retailer Product Sell Sheets: Nothing like the sell sheet used to present an idea to a manufacturer, a real product sell sheet includes several parts that are customary in the industry. Things like the “Glam Shot” or image showing your product on the front page, the “Use Shot” showing your product in a store environment, and the product information. These are all very important to developing a sell sheet that not only looks professional but gives the buyer the information they will need to actually place an order.

 

- Product Price Sheets: These simple but important documents contain information vital to the process of commercialization. They include information such as – the number of units in a case, the number of cases on a pallet, the UPC code, and of course the unit, case, and pallet pricing.

 

- Product Order Form: It’s just makes sense. You want the retailer to place an order, so you have to give them a way to do that - obviously that’s an order form. This form includes the contact information for both the retailer and the fulfillment company. It also included the payment terms, references, and order volume. 

 

As with most things in this business there are always more than one way to do things – but when it comes to graphics don’t scrimp. Use a professional who knows what they are doing and make sure you do your homework so you can guide them on the proper information needed to make sure the entire story gets told – not just the pretty pictures.

For additional information about Mark Reyland and the UIA check out these links:

http://www.uiausa.org/the-executive-director
https://twitter.com/TheInventorGuy
http://www.inventoropinion.com/
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04168197719376330440
http://inventionhome.com/2012/12/06/how-the-uia-mark-reyland-are-helping-the-invention-industry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXe3BB4y2DY
http://www.marktreyland.com/

Are you finding everything okay?

As consumers we're all very familiar with the term “Retail” - We go to stores, we purchase products, we go home and we use them. But have you ever given thought to the fact that retail falls into two different categories? From a product development standpoint, and consequently from an inventing standpoint, we have to think of retail as” Attended” retail and “Unattended” retail.

I learned this lesson the hard way in the very first retail product I ever developed. The product was called The Game Paw; it was a Nerf style foam fan product of a Cat Paw with the number one. After months and months of development we finally dialed the product in and packaged it in a Poly-bag with a header card – a standard way of packaging that kind of a product.

Since this was a sports fan product it was sold in regional sports stores. These stores are what we call “Attended Retail” because they have a small number of employees who can see everything going in the store at any given time. The product quickly sold thousands of units with no damage or theft issues.

Then one day we got a call from a major grocery chain. They wanted to carry the Game Paw for the upcoming football season. This was a great opportunity – or so we thought. In the discussions with the buyer we decided the display mechanism would be what's called a Dump Bin. A large cardboard or wireframe bin normally placed in the middle of the main aisle ways.

It wasn't long before we learned the lesson of unattended retail. We would always go to the retailers who carried our products and check on them once a week. It’s a good habit to get into so you can take care of any issues as soon as they come up.

Well it wasn’t long before we had an issue with this dump bin full of Game Paws. We found the product was being de-packaged and broken. Kids were taking the foam paws out of the package, putting it on their hands and fighting with each other.

In a grocery store environment the square footage to employees ratio is a hugely different than in a sports shop. There was no one to constantly take a look at the product and make sure nobody was messing with it. The packaging that had worked just fine in attended retail didn't work very well at all in the unattended retail environment.

Even though technically it wasn't our responsibility, we credited the retailer back for the damage parts and then reevaluated the packaging and the displays until we were able to solve the problem.

The lesson learned here was that we didn't think about the difference between “attended retail” and “unattended retail” until we were already in the stores.

I guess that's what we call experience, and sometimes you can only gain experience by making mistakes.

Please Help....

 

Please do your part. America depends on us as inventors and the United Inventors Association depends on the support of the inventor community to continue free inventor education programs. Please support our community through a tax deductible donation to the United Inventors Association - Thank You

 http://www.uiausa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86

 

What is PMS color?

 PMS (Pantone Matching System) is a color matching standard used in the Printing Industry for selecting colors, similar to how you would select a paint color in a hardware store. PMS colors are used in a variety of industries, primarily printing, though sometimes in the manufacture of colored paint, fabrics and plastic parts.
At its core, the Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another. One such use is standardizing colors in the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a method of printing color by using four inks—cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The vast majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, So by assigning a code (Pantone number) to the colors everyone stays on the same page.
With 1,114 different PMS shades to choose from, there are plenty of options when selecting color for a product or packaging design.

You're on Notice!

One of the issues with inventing products is of course the intellectual property.  Receiving a patent that serves as the nexus between the product and it's practical protection is just one step in a process that will last the life of either the patent or the product.

We say this because having a patent and telling the world you have that protection on a specific product are two different things. In fact, the law requires you notify the public that such formal protection exists or face the chance that if you are infringed upon the damages recovered may be significantly lower.

Recently I attended a tradeshow for the "End of Life" industry. Interesting in every aspect if you have never been to such a show, but even more intriguing if you think about the hyper competitive nature of that industry.

Because there are limited ways to accomplish what they do, and a huge market for their services, infringement on what appears to be about 250,000 related patents is sure to be a problem.

 I snapped this picture on the show floor because it struck me as a truly unique way of putting this company's competitors on notice. Unique approach? truly, but does it serve the legal requirement for notification? Not really. For that you must still abide by the Marking Statute.

Don't get me wrong, any notification of intellectual protection, both pending and awarded, is a good thing to get in the habit of doing. Just remember a good strategy for providing public "notifications" and following the requirements of "markings" together are always your best defense against an infringer's claim they didn't know.   

THE MARKING STATUTE

To be entitled to damages, the patentee must comply with the patent marking statute. This statute requires:

Patentees, and persons making, offering for sale, or selling within the United States any patented article for or under them or importing any patented article into the United States, may give notice to the public that the same is patented, either by fixing thereon the word "patent" or the abbreviation "pat.", together with the number of the patent, or when, from the character of the article, this cannot be done, by fixing to it, or to the package wherein one or more of them is contained, a label containing a like notice.

35 U.S.C. § 287(a). The marking statute serves the purpose of allowing the public to readily identify the intellectual property status of articles in commerce and to prevent innocent infringement. If a party fails to comply with this provision, it may still be entitled to recover money damages if it provides actual notice to the infringing party. The notice requirement under the marking statute provides:

In the event of failure to so mark, no damages shall be recovered by the patentee in any action for

infringement, except on proof that the infringer was notified of the infringement and continued to infringe thereafter, in which event damages may be recovered only for infringement occurring after such notice.

FREE Inventor Seminar....

 

For additional information about this or any other FREE UIA Inventor seminar contact Jessica at jessica@uiausa.org

Left out in the cold.....

I was having a discussion the other day with an inventor about patents. That’s not really abnormal considering patents are a big part of our industry. However this conversation was specifically about assigning patent rights to a company when you license your product idea to them.

Patent Assignment: The sale and/or transfer of ownership of a patent by the assignor (Inventor or co-inventor) to the assignee.

This is the only legally recognized way by the USPTO of transferring ownership of a patent. Not a handshake, or a contract, or even a deathbed gift will be recognized as a valid form of patent transfer by the USPTO.

Just to be clear – from a business perspective it is NEVER a good idea to assign a patent to a company in the course of a licensing deal. There is simply no need. The license contract itself serves as a pseudo assignment in the terms it grants the company for use of the intellectual property. Most importantly it does it in a way that is 100% reversible if the time comes that you and the company part ways.

As we were talking I started to think about how sites like Quirky (who have never been very interested in telling inventors about the damage to Patent rights using their site causes) handle patents on products they chose to commercialize.

I found the answer in their terms and conditions statement…..and I guess it tells the story.

“In connection with any Accepted Product Idea, to the extent that you submit User Content in connection with that Accepted Product Idea and your User Content is incorporated or made part of any commercialized version of that Product Idea, you hereby assign to Company, and agree to deliver such additional assignments or other instruments of transfer or Intellectual Property Rights perfection as may be reasonably requested by the Company, all of your right, title and interest in such User Content, including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights. You further agree that you will not make any claims against the Company or any third party who is assigned or licensed rights in such User Content by the Company, based on any allegations that any activities by the Company or such third party infringe your (or anyone else's) Intellectual Property Rights in such User Content. You further acknowledge and agree that in connection with any such assignment you reserve no rights whatsoever and the Company shall have the right to enforce all Intellectual Property Rights in such User Content against you and any subsequent use by you of such User Content.”

Like I said, it’s never a good idea to assign your patent to anyone in a licensing deal. It is an irreversible action that gives 100% rights to the company and leaves you.... out in the cold.

Do I need a UPC?

As a consumer, you’ve probably noticed how nifty and efficient Universal Product Codes are. And as an entrepreneur, you may have figured out that having UPCs or bar codes on your products could be important for ensuring their success at retail.

UPCs are the unique configurations – consisting of a block of black and white bars with an accompanying numbers that appear on each individual product in the American retailing system. Because they help standardize the identities of millions of products across various manufacturing, distribution and retailing systems, UPCs have become crucial for making sure that everyone in the marketplace is buying and selling exactly what they think they’re buying and selling.

And for startups, getting UPC codes for your products has become part of the price of admission for scaling up your production, distribution and sales. Here’s what you need to know:

What exactly are UPC codes?

Each UPC Code is a set of alternating black and white bars representing numbers (12 in the U.S.; 13 in Europe) that scanners recognize as unique from every other product. These markers caught on in the U.S. grocery business more than 30 years ago after the feds instituted new standards for nutritional labeling on food containers.

Today, the not-for-profit group GS1, administers UPCs globally. This is in fact the ONLY place you can obtain an original UPC account. However there are many companies that buy UPCs in bulk and resell them to smaller manufactures and even inventors.

It’s important to note here UPCs are an inventory control device as well as a modern day price tag. When you assign a UPC to a product you assign it based on the inventory control requirments. For example if you are selling Teddy Bears to Target and the buyer could care less what colors they come in you would assign one UPC to that product. However if the product comes in 12 colors and Target is interested in tracking all 12 colors of Bear you must assign a different UPC to each color. Now you have used 12 UPCs instead of just one. The same would be said for size, or any other defining characteristic of the product.

Do I really need UPCs on my products?

If you plan on selling through large retailers, you will absolutely need to have a UPC. You won’t get far in mainstream retailing without UPCs, because chains depend on bar-code info provided by their suppliers to ensure accuracy and drive efficiency in their own sales results, ordering and logistics. You’ll also need UPCs to be able to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to electronically receive and send info about orders. A small boutique store may not use EDI, but it’s a standard ordering system used by almost all major retailers.

On the other hand, if you mainly sell to a handful of small B2B customers, you might never need bar codes. Or if you largely retail your products through mom-and-pop shops, boutiques, artists’ markets and other small-scale outlets that generally don’t rely on scanning equipment, you might be able to avoid the bar-code requirement as well – though you should have your own internal way of keeping track of individual products.

Tristen Sullivan recently discovered the importance of UPCs when Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s began requiring her Los Angeles baby-accessories company to supply them.

“I would have lost an order from Nordstrom’s several months ago if I hadn’t been able to get up and running with UPC codes,” says Sullivan, whose Dust Bunnies line includes baby blankets, boots and other accessories. But the $1-million company continues to ship its wares to about 600 boutiques without attaching UPCs.

So, how do you get UPCs?

There are two ways actually. You can visit GS1, The site will take you step by step through the sign-up process, asking you to answer a few questions.

You’ll pay an application fee of a few to several hundred dollars, then a much smaller annual fee. The exact amount of the fee depends on your answers to application questions, including a revenue projection for the next 12 months, and the number of products for which you expect to need individual UPCs in that time. You won’t be held to the answers, so it’s OK to guesstimate.

Assuming your application is accepted, you’ll be e-mailed a “member kit” including company-ID sub-code that will comprise the first few digits of each of your UPCs. You supply a few digits by numbering your own products. Then GS1 generates a random number for the last digit of each UPC.

If you don’t want to purchase UPCs directly from GS1 you can purchase them from a reseller. These companies are all over the place and vary greatly in how they work and how much they charge. Generally for an inventor this is a better option since the amount of product you are selling is relatively low and your market may be untested. You will pay a little more but you don’t lock yourself in to anything long term.

As you can see, UPCs are just another of the many things you have to know when taking a product to market – but if you take the time to educate yourself and ask questions you can normally eat the product development Elephant one bite at a time.

Calling all Inventors.....

 

 

After you register for a booth in the UIA Inventor area make sure you make plans to attend the FREE UIA Inventor education seminar on May 6th from 9-5. For questions or information on the seminar - or information on how your company can sponsor the UIA education programs contact Jessica at jessica@uiausa.org