Innovation is the life force of any technology-bound economy. Fail to invent and you fail to stimulate that economy and improve living standards. Innovation requires investment, however, innovation brings profits. solutions, and new jobs. According to a Business week article on translating science into invention, "the vast majority of great research is languishing in filing cabinets, unable to be harnessed by the entrepreneurs and business people who can set it free, if we could improve how well technology is commercialized, we could quickly create millions of science jobs for a far swifter economic boost for the U.S. in terms of actual new goods and services on the market."
One solution to this problem comes from Tom Katsouleas, dean of Duke University's engineering school, who suggests a program called PhD+ that would teach brainy scientists and inventor geeks entrepreneurship skills.
And I say Yes, Yes, Yes.
Do you know how often I see inventors with the most incredible minds when it comes to inventing but are complete duds when it comes to practical matters such as raising money?
As an inventor, both points are true. Inventors see a path to true innovation and neither raising money or english grammer are prerequistes to innovative technologies.
Someone once told me, “A patent is only worth the amount of money you have to defend it”. Guess what? Just one patent rights law suit costs $2.5M just to defend. Plus each law suit requires at least one month of the inventors time to prepare, with the lawyers doing ‘everything’. To lose is much more. If you counter sue and win they will probably not have any money for you to collect. Google “Patent Trolling”. I have several wind energy inventions thay we have been working on for years. But my goal is low cost energy for the people of the world, not to see how many lawyers and professional plantifs I can make rich. The provisional patent would be OK if it were for 5 years. But in one year no one can raise any significant amount of money. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears!
mike_J_fritz@hotmail.com
@ Mary: “Do you know how often I see inventors (who) are complete duds when it comes to practical matters such as raising money?”
I guess I’m one of your ‘complete duds’, Mary. Look at it from another perspective: Any kid fresh out of high school, on the strength of his own signature – meaning no money up front, no collateral, no elaborate business plan, no co-signor, no nuthin’ – can either get ‘free’ (grant) money or 200 hundred-plus grand low-interest student loan that he doesn’t have to start paying back until a year after graduation, and even then can get deferrals or even forgiveness. But the guy that’s going to hire that kid, who’s often devoted his entire life savings and years to getting his invention to the point where it can create the business that’s going to hire that kid, all he gets is a poke in the eye.
Just because there are more hoops to getting business loans than Ringling has rings doesn’t make the guy a dud.
How about advocating for a level playing field?
I’m not doing anything about my invention until I see who wins the election.If Obama wins,I’m dead…And I won’t be able to do anything but shelve my invention…If Romney wins , then I might have a chance,,a remote one.Besides a possible Obama government take over,the main thing standing in my way is the “America Invents Act”. It virtually stops my idea in its tracks…However if by some miracle Romney wins, I’ll be really surprised if anything is done to remedy the situation—I’m just going to have to wait four months and see what happens.
To remedy the problem Mary poses, I started the world’s first Inventors’ Co-operative more than 6 years ago. We now have more than 3,000 local inventors on our roster and around 150 active Members working together. We harvest new ideas from independent inventors and we assist them in bringing their ideas to fruition. We also invite various capable business people, who are interested and willing to contribute to the innovation process. Obviously, being part of new start-ups that seldom have competition provides limitless business opportunities!
Since I deal with inventors on a daily basis, I am so pleased to be able to offer a better way to manage their ‘intellectual property’ challenge. Over the last 5 years, we have become aware of a brilliant system to cover novel ideas, whether a product, a system or a service,
and establish guaranteed worldwide ownership of that idea: developed in Europe over the last 25 years, it only takes 4 months to acquire, immediately covers 179 countries at registration, with compensation rights for longer than life, keeps your invention secret, is legally stronger and has a one-time fixed cost, less than one country’s national patent! This system has been available since 1995 and has never lost a court challenge! For more information, visit:
http://www.inventorscircle.org/USD-System%20~%202-page%20summary.pdf
Hi Bob
Thank you for your interesting response!
I agree 100% with Aaron Hank’s comments.
This is the first time I have heard of your concept. Here in the USA as you probably are aware, is lawyer paradise. People are sued all the time by professional plaintiffs. One patent rights law suit cost $2,500,000 to fight in court and in the end the law is ‘whatever the judge says the law is’. That is the problem, the system is designed to make lawyers rich without working, not us coming up with the money for patents.
Since our wind turbine is 1,300 feet tall, looks sharp, and must be placed on top of a hill it is law suit bait.
Even if what I understand, from reading your material, is true the professional plaintiffs will still sue us and it will still cost us the $2.5 anyway to go to trial. They knowing this will want to be “nice guys” and settle out of court for only $1M.
Where there is gold there is greed and our technology and business plan is worth $100,000,000,000.
So, am I understanding things correctly or do you have some more information?
Thank you and have a great day!
-Mike J. Fritz