Guide for Inventors

Invention starts with an idea: And that idea needs researching before you can call it an invention. Is it original? Will it work? Is there a market for it? Can it be made profitably? Do lots of research because it’s cheap and reduces risk. (See Minimise risk below). It also takes time, creating a cooling off period that should make you more objective about your idea.

Invention is a marathon, not a sprint: Being in a hurry won’t help. A typical invention project lasts years, every if everything goes well. Decisions made in haste often cause problems later.

Don’t rush to get a patent: That could be your biggest single mistake. See Patenting an invention (below). You must protect your invention appropriately at each stage of its development. A patent may help or it may be next to useless but very expensive.

Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in: Ideas are ten a penny – it’s what you do with them that matters. Inventors who expect someone else to pick them up and carry them won’t succeed. Involve other people by all means – see Build a team below – but most invention projects are so personal that if you don’t lead, nothing will happen.

Invention is mostly business: No one buys anything just because it’s an invention. If you can’t make a convincing business case for your invention, don’t be surprised if no one wants to know. For most of your invention project you’ll need to be more entrepreneur than inventor.

Build a team: Once your invention project gets serious, you’ll need other people to supply skills and time you don’t have. Also, many investors are put off if they find one person trying to do everything, because that means the project isn’t resilient. So build a project team – even if it’s just you plus one other – to spread the load and demonstrate effective management.

Minimise risk: Invention development is riskier than most new business ventures because there are more unknowns. So in everybody’s best interests, including your own, do everything you can to identify and minimise risk. And make sure everyone knows you’re doing it. Come across as too impulsive or spendaholic and potential investors may consider you a risk too far even if they like your idea.

Be willing to learn and adapt: Turning your invention into a product is a lengthy process of continuous learning, adaptation and resourcefulness. First you research it, then you make it, then you sell it. These are the real core skills of most successful inventors.

You are now probably thinking ok, thank you for the information but 'practically, how do I start?' To learn about what is required, please view the 10-step invention guide below. The guide provides you with all of the critical steps involved, from the initial determination of the originality of your idea, all the way through to obtaining a licensing agreement with a company.

Patenting is by far the most misunderstood aspect of invention. For a much longer and more frothing at the mouth read, see: Patenting your Invention: the ugly truth.

Patenting an invention is not easy, quick or cheap. Nor does a patent actually protect anything unless its owner has very deep pockets.

Major companies such as Apple and Google can afford to patent everything in sight. Most private individuals can’t, so immediately there’s a big divide – patenting benefits some much more than others.

A patent is not a form of insurance. If someone infringes your patent you are entirely on your own, both legally and financially.

Any action you take against an infringer is at your own cost and risk, and the costs can be frightening. A UK patent court case can easily cost £1m per side; in the USA it’s much more. The loser may have to pay both sides’ costs.

Should you patent your invention?

Patenting is so complex that what follows can only be very general guidance.

Two common reasons for applying for a patent are:

• The invention is recognised as a significant improvement in technology or performance, worth a lot of money and market share to whoever uses it commercially. Such inventions are rare.
• The invention won’t attract investment without at least a patent application in at least one major market. Many investors are brainwashed into believing that a patent is essential. If they’re prepared to fund all the costs, fine. If not, maybe find less blinkered investors.

When deciding whether to apply for a patent always work backwards from the money you stand to make from your invention. Not sales figures, percentages, prestige or anything else that isn’t actual money. Conduct research to determine the following:

1. Your likely annual income from product sales or royalties, and
2. Your annual cost of patenting including renewals, foreign filings, translations, patent attorney fees etc.

Consider applying for a patent only if (a) is much bigger than (b).

If still in doubt, ask more questions:

• If someone copied your idea, how much use would your patent be? In some countries it can be difficult even to identify infringers, let alone chase them through their own legal system. Or a big company can just say ’OK, take us to court then’ – knowing you can’t afford to.
• How likely is it that anyone will want to copy your invention? Or how much will it matter if they do? Copying needn’t be the end of the world, and it may be more effective to deal with it in the market-place than in a patent court.
• Will most of your income come from licensing? If so, a patent may be all you’ve got to trade, so it had better earn its keep.
• Could you get by with a patent in just one or two key markets? For example, the UK and USA? That may be more affordable but you still have to pay to enforce your own patent.
• Could you use the patent system craftily? For example, file an application to get useful ‘patent pending’ status, then withdraw it before the serious costs kick in. It’s allowed, so why not?

In short: don’t think a patent is necessary. Learn how all forms of intellectual property work, because what’s most important is an IP strategy that protects all valuable aspects of your invention. A patent may or may not be a useful part of that strategy.

Statistically, most inventions fail. According to research, only one in a hundred more than covers its costs, only one in 300 makes a significant difference to a company and only one in 1400 is a world beater. This isn’t the luck of the draw. Most failures are either inevitable because the idea is flawed, or made inevitable by the mishandling of some aspect of development or exploitation. Inventors who strive positively to avoid mistakes have a much better time of it - and that’s what this website is all about.

Lack of novelty is by far the most common cause of invention failure, followed by a lack of market potential. Other causes of failure include:

• Not analysing a problem or design fully, resulting in an invention that isn’t the best solution to the problem it addresses.
• Not budgeting carefully enough. This particularly endangers good ideas as they pick up speed. Often, so much is spent on one aspect, such as prototyping, that nothing is left for other priorities such as testing the prototype.
• Failing to impress potential stakeholders, often by not presenting the idea well enough or by missing the point that companies and investors primarily want profit, not technical wizardry.

Innovation is widely regarded as an awfully good thing, but mainly by those who don’t have to do it. On the ground, innovation = uncertainty = risk, and few companies or investors want either uncertainty or risk. Most innovation is therefore incremental, based on modifying existing components or designs. You know where it’s come from and you know where it’s going. It may be unadventurous but it’s safe.

Inventions on the other hand involve unfamiliar elements, one of which is the inventor. The risk is immediately greater and less calculable, and so will often be deemed unacceptable. Small companies may fear the cost, while managers in large companies tend to shy away from anything that might elevate their heads too far above the parapet.

None the less, if they’re to stand a chance of competing, more companies need to risk the occasional bold leap that inventions represent and that the innovation-by-evolution process may never produce. More companies need to want to be first to market with a brilliant new idea, not second or third with a watered-down imitation. More companies need to encourage and support inventors, not treat them like street beggars. More big companies need to break the habit of using blatant infringement and fear of financial ruin to rip off small owners of valuable IP. Overall, there needs to be a culture change so that inventors don’t feel they’re being punished and preyed upon for having a good idea.

There are plenty of good inventions waiting for a taker, and no shortage of talent capable of producing more. The problem is a distinct lack of encouragement and support for invention from business and government. That’s not just tough on inventors - it’s everyone’s loss.

For any invention idea a prior art search is essential even if you don’t plan to patent your idea. This enables you to find out how original that idea is and what your chances might be of claiming it as your own. Prior art (what’s been done before that’s similar) isn’t just products found in stores or via Google. It’s also any form of documentation of your idea, and that’s a more complex search challenge.

Use this simple search facility to view patents related to your invention from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information (osti.gov). You never know what you will find. See Project 1 for further information on conducting a patent search.

European Patent Office’s free Espacenet database is reasonably easy for beginners to use. Click on link below for a step-by-step guide to searching the Espacenet database.