2008 has arrived, and with it comes a fresh new year for you to develop your invention or new product and succeed in selling or licensing it to a company.

With it also comes a fresh, clean slate. You can take the best lessons learned last year, and leave the baggage of disappointment and guilt behind, where it belongs - in the past.

Time to wipe the whiteboard clean and start plotting out your strategies and plans for moving your idea forward. Read More...

Tags: 2008, Plan, Secrets, How To, Invention Success, Making Money With Invention, Invention Help

There are many situations in which an inventor may find themselves pondering whether or not it is worth pursuing patent protection for their idea or invention. It is a good question and one worthy of further exploration. For the purposes of this article, we will be considering typical circumstance of an individual inventor or small entity, as opposed to a corporation or other business entity. Additionally, the term "patent" as used throughout generally refers to a utility and/or design patent as opposed to provisional patent protection, which can be done fairly inexpensively or filed on your own for less than $200.

So, let's get started. When does patenting and idea NOT make sense? Read More...

Tags: Patents, Secrets, Advice, How To, Invention Help, Patent Help

Your idea is NOT patentable if:
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Tags: Patents, Patent Office, Patent Attorney, Invention Help, How To, Help, Making Money With Invention

The single most important stage in developing a new product or invention exists well before the actual product does - in the early analysis of the idea.

Before spending lots of time and money on pursuing your new invention idea, you must consider the following Three P's of Analyzing An Invention's Potential:
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Tags: Secrets, Advice, Help, Invention Help, Invention Success, Making Money With Invention, How To

Inventors are often their own worst enemies... It's very unfortunate, but it's true. When it comes time to bring their inventions and new product ideas to the marketplace or to the attention of the media, far too many independent or individual inventors totally screw it up right off the bat. The worst part is that it doesn't have to be that way!
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Tags: Secrets, Advice, Help, How To, Invention Success, Manufacturer

There is so much confusion about what patents are, how patents work, what type of patent to apply for, how much patents cost, what patents protect and who enforces the intellectual property (IP) rights a patent may convey. Read More...

Tags: How To, Invention Help, Advice

1) You need a patent in order to sell your product.

Now, this one is just patently untrue. In fact, the majority of products sold are not patented. To be patentable, an invention or product must be unique, non-obvious to those skilled in the art, and useful.
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Tags: Myths, Help, Advice, How To, Secrets

1) The first thing an inventor must do is file for a patent on their idea before someone else does it first.
Ignoring the oversimplification of simply “patenting” an idea, as if it were so easy, this line of reasoning is nonsense for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being, once patented, your invention becomes publicly available to be scrutinized, reverse engineered and designed around – allowing the possibility of beating you to market, if you’re not prepared to go to market before they are.
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Tags: Advice, Help, How To, Invention Success, Manufacturer, Myths, Prototypes, Secrets

Google's Patent Search Engine Reviewed

Google has quietly released into public beta a new patent search engine: Google Patents.
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Tags: How To, Google, Invention Help, Secrets